


Coming Home

by aech_fic



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers up to and including 2YL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-13
Updated: 2011-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-17 23:57:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/182730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aech_fic/pseuds/aech_fic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What begins as a happy reunion, because everyone is accounted for and more-or-less in one piece, unexpectedly turns awkward as hell...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Physical exams?"

"Yes," Chopper insists, waving the stack of folders he's clutching in one hoof. "I need to update my medical records. I haven't seen any of you for two years! How am I supposed to be your doctor if my files are out of date?"

"He's got a point," Nami admits to the others, shrugging. "Who do you want first?"

"I volunteer!" Franky cries, flexing both arms over his head and freezing momentarily in a familiar pose - prompting most of his nakama to smile or grin in recognition - before casually returning them to his sides. "Chopper, examine me first! I've got to show you all my super new upgrades!"

The doctor cringes, envisioning days spent cataloging whatever crazy modifications Franky's completed on his own body in the past two years. BF-37, whatever that means, according to the labels on his- shoulders? Well, Chopper supposes they're still shoulders even though they look quite a bit different than the last time he saw them. Truth be told, ever since they've regrouped, the reindeer's been wondering just exactly how much of the cyborg is still human flesh at this point.

Thankfully, Nami comes to the rescue. "Ah, why don't you see Sanji-kun first, so he can get dinner started when you're done?"

"An excellent idea, as should be expected from Nami-swan," Sanji sighs, oblivious to the smug grins that the navigator's exchanging with Robin on how he's been neatly trapped into a schedule that will keep him too busy to accidentally blunder into his mellorines' appointments.

"Idiot," Zoro snorts, which prompts a snarl of protest from the offended cook and a brief squabble in which Nami shortly declares herself victor by smashing their heads together hard enough to raise lumps.

"Actually, I'd like to see you first, Zoro," Chopper tells the swordsman as he stands rubbing his bruised skull. "I'd like to evaluate your depth perception."

Waving a hand in dismissal, the older pirate mutters something about taking first watch and reacquainting himself with the weights he hasn't used in two years. He's stopped by Luffy's tight grip on his forearm.

"Chopper said Zoro first."

There's an awkward silence as everyone makes a point to avoid looking directly at the captain or the man he's restraining. Zoro's been extremely tight-lipped about his missing eye since returning to the Sunny, responding to their questions with nonchalant shrugs or murderous glares depending on who's asking, and no one's been willing to push the issue for good reason.

Zoro's dour expression states that he might don his bandana and go for Wado at any moment, but an unimpressed Luffy is glowering right back from the shadow beneath his hat's brim. Unlike everyone else, he's avoided asking sensitive questions about the swordsman's time spent training on Kuraigana Island, and Nami seriously doubts that it's because he's afraid of incurring the swordsman's wrath.

Neither pirate looks inclined to back down, and she's suddenly aware that she's holding her breath, fearful that they're going to start exchanging blows capable of making that ridiculous misunderstanding at Whiskey Peak so long ago seem like a friendly dispute. The tension that's been building since they returned to the ship is now thick enough to sink teeth into, and even the newer crew members - who've never seen Luffy's rage turned on one of his own and don't really believe it possible - are exchanging wary glances.

"L-Luffy, it's okay," Chopper stammers nervously, "I can take Sanji f-"

"Tch. Fine, whatever," Zoro growls, twisting his arm sharply so Luffy's forced to let go. Without waiting to see if Chopper's following, he stalks up the stairs to the second level and slams open the dining hall door, taking the shortest path to the infirmary.

Luffy grins and pats the terrified doctor on the head. "Zoro and me first, right?"

The remaining Straw Hats wait in silence as their captain escorts the anxious and protesting reindeer away. As soon as the dining hall door clicks shut, everyone starts talking at once.

"What the hell is Zoro's problem?"

"Haramaki-bro's got issues..."

"Shitty bastard never-"

No one's more surprised than Nami herself when she unexpectedly defends the swordsman's poor behavior. "It's not entirely his fault, you know. Luffy's not exactly helping, and the more they tip-toe around each other, the worse it gets."

She's actually seriously considering asking her crewmates to help her lock both idiots alone in the pantry in hopes that some time alone - and possibly a good hard fuck - will straighten things out, but there's no guaranteeing how much damage they might do to each other or the ship before they get to that point. And she also knows exactly what Sanji will say in response this idea, so she keeps it to herself.

"What if Zoro leaves?" Usopp demands. "I mean, half the time he doesn't even show up for meals anymore, and Luffy just smiles and tells us to leave him alone."

"Well, he's not raiding the kitchen after hours. I'd know."

"He's not going to just suddenly vanish," Nami tells them sternly, despite the nauseous flicker of disquiet in her stomach because she's been privately agonizing over the same thing. "Besides, you know Luffy wouldn't let him off the ship without a fight."

She fixes Usopp with a reprimanding eye. "And he let you off easy. Don't expect him to do the same for Zoro."

It's more likely, she thinks, that both captain and swordsman would be injured beyond Chopper's abilities, if Zoro even hinted that he might consider leaving as a solution to this mess. Although Nami's still not sure exactly why those two continue tip-toeing around each other like wary strays meeting on unfamiliar territory; everyone else in the crew fell right back into place, didn't they?

Granted, nobody else on the crew is finding themselves in the awkward situation of being crammed into tight quarters - and despite being larger than Merry, Sunny still doesn't have much room for privacy when you're surrounded by nothing but water and eight other people all with their own very unique idiosyncrasies - with an ex-lover. Which, the navigator muses, is another question entirely.

Ex-lover? Former lover? What do you call someone who never actually broke off a relationship with you but rather was suddenly catapulted elsewhere for two years according to the whim of a strangely gifted and extremely large man resembling a bear? No wonder Luffy and Zoro are having issues with-

"I don't think you're giving him enough credit," Robin states smoothly, interrupting Nami's thoughts. "Luffy means far too much to our swordsman for him to simply abandon this ship. He's not likely to just turn his back on someone for whom he's willing to die, even if he's not speaking to the captain right now."

This proclamation is greeted with several blank stares and brows furrowed in confusion, from all but two crewmates who caught the exact meaning of the historian's reference.

"You knew? How- no, never mind."

"So it appears that Sanji-san and myself were not the only ones privy to Zoro-san's noble indiscretion," Brook muses, tapping bony fingertips against his jaw. "And I intended to take that secret to my grave. Although-"

"What are you talking about?" Nami demands, before the grinning skeleton can drop the inevitable skull joke. "What secret?"

She's sure that Sanji will trip over himself in eagerness to answer her question, but the cook surprises her by quietly and methodically lighting himself a cigarette, his face troubled, as though he's considering exactly how much to say.

It's Robin that finally answers. "Our Kenshi-san's encounters with Bartholomew Kuma have never ended particularly well..."

"When- are you talking about that time at Thriller Bark? When Zoro got all beat up but wouldn't tell anybody what happened?" Nami asks, flabbergasted. She's still staring at Sanji, and the cook's obvious refusal to meet her eyes provides all the answer she needs. "I knew it! I knew you knew something, but you claimed that you couldn't remember anything after the Shichibukai knocked you out!"

She expects an apology, possibly accompanied by whimpering and heartfelt tears, but not the strained expression that crosses his face.

"I- I promised." His fingers twist the cigarette between them, crumpling it even though he's only smoked a quarter of it, and he stares down as though it's a thing he's never seen before. "Kuma- he knocked me out the first time. Zoro knocked me out the second time."

"Sanji-san offered to take his place," Brook explains rather glibly, "-and Zoro-san wouldn't have it."

"What do you mean, take his place?" Usopp asks suspiciously, because although the cook's busy stomping on the musician's toe bones - a futile endeavor if the sniper's ever seen one - Robin is nodding gravely in agreement.

The historian blinks as she finds herself under intense scrutiny, as Sanji and Brook are fussing and therefore too preoccupied to answer any questions. "Ah, well, if I understand what I heard-"

"That ear thing's handy, isn't it?" Franky mumbles, nudging Usopp. "You should design something like that, let us eavesdrop on the-"

He grunts as Nami's fist collides with his head, although he wonders just how the heck she managed that considering he's about two feet taller than her. "OW! Yes, yes, I'm aware of that, thank you."

"Only an idiot would thank me for calling him a pervert. Sorry, Robin, you were saying-?"

Robin resumes with an air of long-suffering patience. "From what I heard, the Tyrant fully intended to take Luffy's head after rendering everyone unconscious. Zoro and Sanji somehow avoided the worst of the impact and offered themselves in exchange."

"I tried," Sanji mutters gruffly, abandoning his satisfying but ultimately useless kicking of Brook's boney ass. "-but that shitty Marimo insisted on playing the hero. Made me look like a complete idiot."

"You were an idiot! Both of you!" Nami's fists are trembling so violently that every man takes a step back. "Zoro nearly died, and you could've too! Why didn't you tell us?"

The cook's mouth works soundlessly, and Robin lays a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We kept our silence to protect Luffy."

"And I intend to continue keeping it," Sanji says softly, locking eyes with the navigator. She glares back, but his gaze doesn't waver even though he wants desperately for her to stop scowling at him.

"I agree."

Robin's support is a relief; at least one of his mellorines remains unruffled, even if he thinks the fire burning in Nami's eyes could potentially re-light his extinguished cigarette. Oh, but she's a goddess when she's enraged-

"Zoro will tell Sencho-san when and if he feels the time right, and the situation is far too complicated at this point. Telling Luffy now may only drive them further apart, and I fear that once we pass through Fishman Island and on to the New World, petty squabbles and internal conflict may prove to be our undoing."

"Ah, I love when Robin-chwan uses such extensive and eloquent vocabulary~"

Nami sighs, her anger giving way to the historian's logic, but Usopp and Franky don't intend to cave quite as quickly.

"But what if-"

"You sure Mugiwara doesn't have the right to know what-"

"I'm sure I can trust you to keep your silence," Robin tells them, and although she's smiling pleasantly, her fingers twitch against her crossed arms, and Franky cringes and fights the urge to clap protective hands over his balls.

"Err, whatever Robin thinks best, right Usopp?"

"R-Right!" Usopp grins nervously, ignoring Sanji's snort and Nami's smirk, because while Franky would assuredly find some way to build cybernetic replacements, the sniper would much rather keep his original parts.

xxx

Zoro hates the infirmary with a passion that rivals his distaste for that damn ero-cook's revolting and melodramatic cavorting around anything wearing a skirt. As one of the crew's primary fighters, he's seen entirely too much of these four walls while their disgruntled doctor bandages and stitches and jabs him with needles containing clear liquids that the reindeer insists will prevent infection, despite the swordsman's strident protests that he'll heal just fine without all the medical mumbo-jumbo.

Two years absence hasn't done much to change his mind; one glance at that familiar tile floor and a good whiff of the stringent scent of disinfectant invading his nostrils, and he nearly stomps straight through the room and out the back door.

But he agreed to this, and he knows Chopper sincerely loves this room and all its paraphernalia, so he un-straps his swords and drops wearily onto the rolling chair resting next to the doctor's desk to wait, impatiently tapping his fingers against the ink blotter.

It's only a few moments before a small fuzzy head peeks nervously into the room around the door frame, and the reindeer squeaks loudly in alarm as Luffy nudges him through and then stands blocking the doorway so he can't dart back out.

"Let's get this over with," Zoro grumbles, a bit less gruffly than he intends, because Chopper's resorted to clinging rather adorably to the captain's left leg and vehemently resisting repeated attempts to pry him loose. He's not actually angry with the doctor anyway, just frustrated and feeling slightly cornered because this is the closest he and Luffy have come to being alone since the crew regrouped. "The sooner you get done poking and prodding, the faster I get out of here."

"I-I don't poke and prod," Chopper protests in annoyance, distracted into letting go of Luffy's leg long enough for the captain to push him further into the room and close the door behind them.

"Get out."

Zoro's low growl makes the doctor immediately forget his bravado, but Luffy just crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against the door. "Nope."

"Get. The. Fuck. Out."

Something akin to distress flashes briefly through the captain's eyes, but he doesn't budge, leveling a frosty glare at the swordsman. "Shanks told me a long time ago that a captain's responsible for making sure his crew's fit to sail."

"Get-"

"Luffy!" Chopper hisses, watching Zoro's hands nervously for any sign that they might be straying closer to his weapons. "Just go, and I'll-"

What he's about to say goes against every moral fiber in his being, because he believes completely in the need for patient-doctor confidentiality, even if the members of this crew have gotten distressingly adept at tricking him into revealing too much. But he's very much aware of the unnatural strain between his two nakama, possibly more so than anyone else including the captain and swordsman themselves, and he can't afford a battle in his medical room. Not with so many delicate instruments and expensive medicines freshly stocked and ready for use.

"I-I'll tell you later."

"OI!" Zoro barks, erupting out of his chair, and Chopper flinches. "Don't you dare-"

"I'm sorry! I-"

Luffy interrupts them both by slamming his fist against the wall by the closed door. The doctor utters a wail of alarm that he quickly muffles with both hooves at the sight of the captain's clenched teeth and narrowed eyes, but Zoro just glowers back, fingers brushing menacingly against the swords now leaning against the table's edge.

"I said, I'm the captain, so I'm not leaving."

The swordsman strokes a thumb across Kitetsu's hilt - the blade's clamoring eagerly for him to just draw and end this ludicrousness now - but he tenses and jerks his hand back as though burned when Luffy's gaze sharpens, his eyes dilating as he follows the movement. The captain's tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip and he seems about to speak, but then he reins in his emotions, and the hunger on his face fades back to scorn mixed with casual disinterest.

"So, am I captain or not?"

"Aye, Sencho," Zoro mutters, his sneer twisting the title into an insult, but he eases back into the chair with a slightly bemused and considering look as Luffy resumes his leaning position against the door.

Chopper glances back and forth between them, puzzled, because while he's aware that his nose can't be mistaken regarding the nature of the heavy pheromones escaping from both pirates, they're still pretending that they're completely uninterested.

He doubts it's anything resembling bashfulness; to his knowledge, Luffy never cared one way or the other who was watching, and Zoro never seemed to care much either, for all his threats and protests. Even the swordsman's tendency to freak out at poorly-timed interruptions always seemed to wax and wane with each additional crew member - after a few initials outbursts at startled newcomers still unfamiliar with the ship's dynamics, he tended to settle down and ignore them.

So even though he's aware that people can change in two years - one glance at Zoro's scarred face is enough to tell him that - the doctor is greatly disturbed by the idea that his nakama seem incapable of picking up the open, easy-going relationship they had before Sabaody turned their world upside down.

He realizes that Zoro's fixing him with a slightly annoyed and very bored look. "Ah, sorry! Could you please-"

The swordsman blinks, frowning in confusion as Chopper freezes, mouth hanging open, because he's just realized that he needs to ask Zoro to strip, and damn it all if this couldn't get any more awkward than it already-

"You need us naked, right?" Luffy asks, and there's unmistakable rustling noises as the captain unceremoniously drops his drawers and kicks them across the floor. His open long-sleeved shirt follows, although his hat remains perched securely on his head.

Much to the doctor's amusement, although he does his best to hide it because he'd prefer not to find himself spitted on whichever blade finds him first, Zoro's nostrils flare slightly before he pointedly redirects his attention, suddenly finding the bookshelf behind Chopper's desk intensely fascinating.

"Y-Yes, that would be helpful..."

Looking equally amused, the captain drops into a sitting position on the floor, feet spread wide apart and forearms resting on his knees as he resumes leaning back against the door. His mouth twists slightly and he rocks uncomfortably from one ass-cheek to the other. "Zoro better hurry up - this floor's freezing my balls."

"Then why the hell'd you- no, forget it," the swordsman grumbles, kicking off his boots. He glares at the panels above Luffy's head, unwilling to let his eyes wander lower, and then abruptly spins the chair so he's facing away as he shrugs off his clothing.

"Zoro's being shy~," the captain declares in a sing-song voice, and Chopper nearly drops his stethoscope when the older pirate explodes out of the chair, his overcoat falling to the floor as he threatens to tie Luffy's neck in a goddamn knot if he doesn't shut up and finally get the fuck out.

The doctor's seconds away from asking them both to just get dressed and leave because there's no way in hell this is going to work and maybe Sanji will be more cooperative, but then Zoro realizes that he's performing his tirade naked, at someone who's grinning ear to ear and not looking the least bit threatened. In fact, he's pretty sure that Luffy's actually leering at him. Face blazing brighter than some of the tomatoes in their newly restocked kitchen, the swordsman slams his jaw shut and slinks over to sit ramrod straight on the edge of the bed, radiating animosity.

He stares fixedly at the inkwell on Chopper's desk and suffers through the reindeer's intense scrutiny in silence. And he doesn't care what the hell the doctor says, because it's definitely poking and prodding. The one time his gaze unconsciously slides in Luffy's direction - he refuses to acknowledge that this involves actually turning his head, even though his good eye can't see that side of the room without doing so - he finds the captain scratching absently at one inner thigh while both eyes remain intently locked on him, and Chopper yells at him for nearly swallowing the tongue depressor.

It feels like the entire left side of his body is igniting under Luffy's insistent rubbernecking, especially when he's made to hop on first one foot and then the other so Chopper can test his balance. By the time he's being harassed into reading letters descending in size on a chart that the doctor's pinned to the wall, only hard-earned discipline keeps the swordsman from squirming like a tortured eel.

"Good!" Chopper finally exclaims, hooves clapping together in glee. "Your depth perception has adjusted to take your missing eye into account."

"I could have just told you that," Zoro grumbles. "We're done here, right?"

"Yes, you can go start training now, but if I catch you limping around the ship from overstraining yourself, I'm banning your weights."

"Sure, whatever," the swordsman agrees heedlessly, already sliding off the bed and reaching for his pants where they rest draped over the back of the doctor's chair. "I'll be on watch in the look out tower. If you or the shitty cook or anybody else needs me."

Luffy's arm shoots out and yanks his trousers right out of his hand.

Shocked silence, and then Chopper dives for safety under the bed with a squeal of terror.

Zoro scrubs angrily at the left side of his face, hard enough to rub the skin red, his free hand gesturing impatiently. "Give 'em. Now."

Luffy grins, tensing as he rises. "Sorry, Chopper, I guess you'll hafta check me over later."

The swordsman lunges and the captain dodges, yanking the door open so hard that the knob comes loose and bounces across the tiles. Chopper watches it roll under his desk from where he huddles under the bed, arms clasped protectively over his head, as Luffy bolts out of the room with Zoro in incited pursuit.

xxx

Reclining in her chair on the lawn deck, Nami's taking full advantage of the last few hours before the sun sinks too low in the sky to provide suitable sunbathing rays. She sips slowly at the drink that Sanji delivered a few moments earlier, smiling when she glances over to see that Robin is still engrossed in her new book.

She's startled out of her daze as Luffy, laughing wildly and clutching a pair of trousers definitely not his own, bounds by and nearly collides with the foremast because he's too busy looking behind him to watch where he's going. The captain is wearing his hat and nothing else, and he completely ignores her when she screams at him for being indecent.

"Come back here, you asshole!"

Nami nearly drops her glass when Zoro, equally bare-assed but fuming instead of laughing, charges past her chair. Robin sprouts a steadying hand on the snack table that the swordsman leaves rocking in his wake and calmly turns another page. She's nearly reached the end of the chapter, and even a glimpse of her naked nakama chasing each other in circles on the grass-covered deck isn't quite enough to divert her attention.

Her patience is not shared by her fellow sunbather. "Both of you, go put on some bloody clothes!"

Intent on continuing his game of keep away, Luffy dashes across the lawn and up the stairs leading to the second level. Zoro follows, still shouting at Luffy to surrender his stolen pants, and Nami stares incredulously until they disappear from sight around the corner of the dining hall. The sound of feet pounding on wooden planks fades, although she can still hear laughter and cursing.

"Those guys have absolutely no shame," the navigator grumbles, although she can't help feeling relieved. Luffy and Zoro playing naked tag throughout the ship is infinitely better than Luffy and Zoro avoiding each other like angry, skittish cats. Although, she reflects with trepidation, if they've really finally broken the ice, it won't be long at all before they're both yowling like said felines and being stumbled upon in awkward scenarios all around the ship.

She settles back in her seat and closes her eyes, hoping fervently - for just a moment - that both idiots fall overboard so she can enjoy a few more moments of peace before Sanji calls them all to dinner. Perhaps, if she's very lucky, everyone at the dinner table will be fully clothed.

Sadly, the tranquility is short-lived. Robin tucks a place marker in her book and sets it down so she can take a sip of her own drink. "Sounds like they're coming back."

Sure enough, the yelling and pounding grows steadily louder, until Luffy runs around the corner of the kitchen so fast that he nearly flies right off the ship's deck. He flings one stretchy arm out, catches the railing and rockets himself down the slide like a torpedo, hollering excitedly.

Zoro ignores the slide completely and leaps straight over the railing. Clearing the tree beside it, he twists mid-leap and tackles the fleeing captain into the lawn deck so forcefully that clumps of sod go flying. The calculator in Nami's head automatically ticks off how many beli Franky will need to buy new grass seed and is computing the swordsman's new debt when the dining hall door bangs open and Sanji storms out, glaring murderously at the scene below.

"OI! What the hell are you doing? And why are you doing it naked?"

Unconcerned with the baleful gaze fixed on him, Zoro struggles unsuccessfully to wrestle his pants from Luffy's iron grasp. He's now dimly aware that they're gathering an audience, but after dealing with Perona's obnoxious astral projections invading his privacy and Mihawk attacking him at awkward moments in the name of training, he can't quite bring himself to care. Besides, if he's pissing off that stupid cook, he can deal with two women gawking at his bare ass. And whatever else happens to flash into view.

"Stop offending the ladies' delicate sensibilities and put your pants on, shitty Marimo!" Sanji roars, leaning so far over the railing that he's briefly in danger of tumbling over it.

"Why don't you and that fucking wooly bear on your face come down here and make me, ero-cook?" He can't resist yelling back, because he's finally figured out what that goddamn freaky goatee reminds him of: a fat fuzzy black caterpillar.

As a nonplussed Sanji struggles for a good response that doesn't actually involve physical contact - because he'd be down there kicking the swordsman square in the face right now if the man wasn't so disturbingly naked - Zoro decides he's not going to win by force or fair means without his swords, temporarily abandoned in Chopper's care, and launches a furious tickle attack on his defiant captain.

The smaller pirate immediately starts thrashing around, his laughter now punctuated with shrieks. Zoro snorts as he's buffeted on all sides by Luffy's arms and legs, which wave helplessly as though they've transformed into squid tentacles. He ignores the fist boxing his ear and persists, pinning his quarry into the grass so he can't slither away.

On the balcony, Sanji whirls and stalks back into the kitchen, declaring his intent to return with sharp projectiles.

"Leggo!" Luffy squawks, now laughing so hard that he's sure Zoro could easily wrench the bunched fabric from his fingers. The swordsman, now snickering and grinning like an idiot himself, seems to have forgotten why he's tickling him in the first place, and the captain's immensely relieved because his nakama's finally lost the pinched, distressed look that's been shadowing him for days.

"It's good to hear their laughter again," Robin hums thoughtfully. "I'd been missing it."

"It's a good thing Luffy's sometimes brighter than he looks," the navigator snorts, watching the tangle of flailing limbs. She's always been amused by the captain's uncanny ability to turn a grave situation on its head with a seemingly whimsical prank, although she rather wishes he had pulled this stunt a little earlier, before Zoro's discomfort started seriously affecting everyone else.

Luffy makes a desperate, futile attempt to escape his tormentor by wrapping his arms and legs around the trees on either side of the lawn and flopping like a rabid trampoline, obviously hoping to launch Zoro onto the upper deck. The swordsman clings like a burr, and when Luffy doubles his effort, myriad leaves drift to the lawn below, accompanied by a small hail of twigs. Nami opens her mouth to scold them for damaging the foliage, but they're now both laughing uproariously and look so genuinely happy that her stern expression softens.

"Boys," she sighs, leaning back in her chair.

Robin chuckles, stirring her drink. "Ah, but our boys have grown into rather splendid young men."

The note of actual interest in the historian's voice surprises her, and Nami finds herself sitting up again and taking a closer look to see why Robin's watching so intently.

"I give! I give!" Luffy finally squeals, shoving the stolen trousers into Zoro's grinning face so forcefully that he's momentarily blinded. Unable to see where or what he's tickling, the swordsman finally relents and rises with his panting, giggling captain tucked under one arm and his pants draped over the other. There's really no point in pulling them on now, and he'll have a hard time getting the damn button closed anyway, thanks to his body making it blatantly obvious that he's very, very happy about reconciling with Luffy.

He glances up and realizes that Robin is openly admiring him, lips curved in a huge smile and fingers laced casually around her glass, as though she's thoroughly enjoying the scenery. Nami's showing a great deal of interest in noisily snorkeling the last few inches of melted ice from her glass, but her flushed cheeks give her away; she's actually peering surreptitiously at both men from lowered lashes.

She certainly can't argue with Robin; in spite - or perhaps because - of the scars, the past two years have been rather.. err, generous, and she finds herself hoping that any minute Sanji will indeed pop out of the kitchen and start hurling knives, just so she can watch the swordsman dodge them.

Zoro doesn't particularly care if his female nakama see him naked - it's happened frequently enough in the past, given Merry's single bathroom and Nami's tendency to just stroll in and kick everyone out when she wanted a bath - but being actively oogled kind of freaks him out. Not by the historian, so much; Robin is Robin, and he isn't particularly surprised that she looks so smugly pleased.

Nami forgetting to scream at him, on the other hand, is really fucking weird. Especially when she appears to be grading him like a choice cut of steak; he's used to the navigator glaring at him like she wants to break his swords over his head, not eyeing him speculatively as though she's wondering whether he and Luffy would mind if she invited herself to join them and watch.

"'Scuse us," he growls between clenched teeth, hoisting Luffy over his shoulder and stalking off towards the men's quarters. "Oi, and tell the shitty cook that Chopper's asking for him."

"S-Sure," Nami agrees thoughtlessly, her eyes glued to the muscles flexing in his retreating buttocks, and she squeaks as Robin, now grinning widely, pokes her in the side.


	2. Chapter 2

Kicking the door shut behind him, Zoro tosses Luffy unceremoniously into his bunk and shakes bits of lawn from his grass-stained pants before he hauls them back on, much to the captain's disappointment as evident by his pouting face.

"Give me a little warning next time you feel like giving the entire ship a show," the swordsman grumbles halfheartedly, flopping onto the nearest sofa and tucking his arms behind his head. "We can make an announcement with the megaphone. Post fliers on the foremast."

Luffy scrambles to the floor and leans over the sofa's back, resting his chin on his arms as he peers down at Zoro, his eyes straying to the tented material in the taller pirate's lap. He can't help grinning gleefully, even though it earns him a more intense scowl. "Nami's probably mad about the grass."

"Probably add more interest to my debt."

They stare at each other for a moment, the heat in Luffy's eyes leaving the swordsman feeling awkward again now that his adrenaline's died down, and then Zoro releases an annoyed huff at the expectant expression on his captain's face and reaches up to drag him down over the back of the sofa. "C'mere."

Draping himself over the swordsman like a snug if rather rubbery blanket, Luffy hums happily at the arm that wraps cautiously around him, nuzzles his cheek against Zoro's chest and promptly starts snoring.

"What the-"

Zoro gives the top of Luffy's head an exasperated eye roll and settles back, resting his shoulders against the sofa arm. Although he made light of it to Chopper, he's been sleeping poorly since the first night back on the Sunny, too aware of Luffy's presence across the room and too uncertain of his reception to go join him. Apparently his captain hasn't been getting much rest either.

He figures Nami's right; they have both been idiots about this whole thing.

Although now that they've actually breached the distance and especially since there's a warm body sprawled enticingly on his, the swordsman's wide awake and more than a little irritated that Luffy dropped off so fast.

The sofa seems a lot more cramped than he remembers, and he wonders if he can persuade Nami to invest in a futon or possibly some supplies for building a larger double-wide bunk. While Franky's done a terrific job ensuring that Thousand Sunny's ready to sail since they've all returned to Sabaody, the shipwright's been a bit more concerned with verifying that the coating went well than redesigning the men's quarters, and rightfully so since no one wants to drown on the way to Fishman Island.

He immediately wonders if he's getting ahead of himself, thinking about futons and double-bunks.

Luffy stirs, mumbling incoherently and tightening his grip on the swordsman's torso, almost as though he's unconsciously responding to Zoro's darker thoughts. It's actually a little eerie how easily the captain reads him, he decides as he gently removes the straw hat and transfers it carefully to the tabletop.

He runs his fingers through the younger man's black hair, smoothing the tousled locks, and Luffy slowly relaxes again, his breathing deepening and then going raspy as his faint snoring resumes. The captain's firm grip on his ribcage also eases, until his arm slides off Zoro's chest and hangs off the sofa, knuckles brushing the floor. His limb's weight pulls him slightly to the side, exposing the huge starburst patterned scar on his chest.

Pausing with his fingers still tangled in Luffy's hair, Zoro stares at the healed wound, aware that his heart's pounding a little faster. He still remembers the shock he felt earlier on seeing that shallow crater for the first time, when a Luffy bursting with excitement over their reunion tackled him to the Sunny's deck. Probably, he muses, the same shock the captain felt on first glimpsing his scarred face, although Luffy hide it well.

A little too well, judging by the awkwardness of the past few days.

He's still not quite sure how those initial stirrings of discomfort spiraled out of control so quickly, leaving them both short on sleep and irritable. He certainly didn't expect to find it easy, picking up a relationship that'd been put forcibly on hold for two years, but he wasn't quite prepared for Luffy's hesitation or the strange thoughtful looks he found fixed on him when they sat down to dinner.

He couldn't concentrate on eating with Luffy staring at his closed eyelid, so he started taking his food outside and then skipping meals altogether when the strain between them grew so strong that he found himself silently edging out of rooms when the captain walked in and taking far too many evening watch shifts. Camping out in the watch tower was easier than spending a night feigning sleep while his captain's eyes burned metaphorical holes into his back, even if his training room held too many painful memories.

Abusing his weights at all hours gave him a different focus at least, and he stubbornly ignored complaints from the irritated crew members that his clanging and banging kept from sleep, drank too much and practiced his new one-eyed glare on anyone who questioned what the hell he thought he was doing.

The missing eye doesn't really bother him personally, at least most of the time, and he's firmly rebuffed his crew mates' avid curiosity - sometimes politely but most times not - since he rejoined them because it doesn't matter how he lost a portion of his sight. It happened, he's dealt with it, and it's not like scars on his body are anything new. He sometimes thinks there's not a square inch of unmarked skin to be found, although all but his most severe injuries tend to heal into faint lines so thin that they're barely perceptible.

The massive scar on Luffy's chest is another story. It agitates the swordsman, even though he's lost track of how many serious injuries Luffy's sustained during their travels thanks to the captain's propensity for putting himself in situations that result in blood loss and bruises.

None of those fights, not even the initial debacle with Crocodile that ended with a goddamn hook impaled through Luffy's torso, managed to leave scars. Thanks to his bizarre rubber constitution and somehow aided by the consumption of impossible quantities of food - particularly meat, always more meat, please - the gaping wounds always healed and faded completely.

Zoro finds himself incapable of even imagining the attack that actually left a permanent trace, and such a large one, at that. Although he knows some of what happened at Marineford, the newspapers - which he always snapped up as soon as Mihawk discarded them - were frustratingly vague. The master swordsman acknowledged meeting Luffy on the battlefield but refused to provide any details, other than assuring his furious apprentice that the rubber man had escaped him relatively unscathed.

He then proceeded to take full advantage of Zoro's distraction, following up the rather one-sided fight by treating the humiliated and bleeding swordsman to a scathing rebuke about allowing news of his absent lover to weaken him. When he demanded to hear how the hell Mihawk even knew about the exact nature of his relationship with Luffy, a gleeful Perona had happily informed him that she'd not only heard him talking in his sleep but had also been spying on him in the shower, which had been - up until that point - the only place he'd felt secure enough to jack off.

Zoro traces the starburst with a fingertip, very gently to avoid disturbing his sleeping captain. The scarred skin feels rough, almost leathery, and he abruptly wonders what sort of texture it might have under his tongue, remembering how smooth the shower tiles felt against his cheek as he panted under the hot spray and struggled to keep his voice under control when he finally came with Luffy's name on his lips.

Luffy drowsily opens his eyes, disturbed by the arm unconsciously tightening around his waist and pulling him more firmly against the swordsman's body. He wriggles as he recognizes the hard heat nudging against his lower belly. "Eh? Zoro?"

"Ah, sorry," Zoro mutters, pointedly looking away since he can't hide the flush spreading across his face. His erection betrays him and twitches again inquiringly, bringing more color to his cheeks when Luffy's lips immediately curl in a sly smile. "I was trying not to wake you."

His captain laughs and wraps both arms around his neck, hauling him in for a sloppy but enthusiastic kiss before he can pull away. "Zoro's blushing!"

"Shut up," the swordsman grumbles, albeit halfheartedly because now there's a leg hooked around his middle, pressing their bodies tightly together from chest to groin. When Zoro drags himself upright on the sofa, Luffy squeezes the other leg around him and balances on his lap facing him.

His captain's laughter quiets, and there's that unreadable expression on his face again as he leans back a bit and brings his hand up to cup Zoro's cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly over the swordsman's closed upper eyelid. The thin line of scar tissue feels like a hard, raised seam. "Does it feel weird when I touch it?"

"Can't really feel anything right there," Zoro admits. He covers Luffy's hand with his own, shifting the stroking thumb a few centimeters to the outer corner of his eye. "I feel that. Doesn't hurt, but the damn thing itches sometimes."

He's rejected the idea of an eye patch, partly because Perona insisted it would look adorable and partly because it would look utterly ridiculous combined with his bandana and he doesn't want that much fabric flapping around in his face during a fight. Although he might reconsider if Luffy suggests it; while he's had absolutely no interest in looking cute - the very word makes him want to gag - for that obnoxious ghost girl, he doesn't think he'd mind looking... charming might be a good word but forget cute, fuck cute - he wouldn't mind looking charming for his captain.

Although god only knows what kind of crap he'd have to put up with from that shitty-

Luffy's hand moves away, catching and twining fingers with his, and the swordsman utters a muffled erk of surprise as his captain closes in and presses pliant lips to his face. He flinches as wet heat passes over his closed eye; he's being licked from cheek to brow, and unlike the earlier probing, that does feel fucking weird.

When he automatically resists, protesting that he's not one of the ero-cook's dishes, the fingers gripping his tighten and pin his hand against the back of the sofa. Luffy is definitely stronger than he remembers and quickly secures the other wrist as well before it can fend him off. The younger pirate leans in, his breath warm as his tongue flickers out again.

"O-Oi-" Zoro stammers uncertainly, straining the muscles in his forearms as he struggles to free himself to no avail; the other man's position gives him better leverage and the swordsman will die before admitting it, but the fixed expression of concern on Luffy's face is freaking him out. It's the same one that's sent him slinking from the room more than once, but now he's pinned firmly to the sofa, making escape impossible.

"Just hold still," he's told with all the emphasis of a direct order, and the swordsman's stunned enough to find himself obeying, because Luffy's rarely ever bothered exercising his authority in the past, unless it involved food or exploring new islands, but now he sounds utterly serious. The tongue exploring Zoro's closed eyelid unnerves him, and he's glad when Luffy exchanges licks for kisses, planting a moist trail down his jaw.

"Luffy?" he asks cautiously, and his captain answers by sealing their mouths together in a fierce lip-lock that makes his earlier kiss pale in comparison. Startled, Zoro jolts against his pinned limbs before he's crushed back against the sofa. He's slow to respond, his head reeling as Luffy's naked body rubs against him, cock stirring quickly to prod firmly and insistently at his abdomen.

An insistent tongue tip forces its way between his lips when he doesn't comply quickly enough. Luffy's slick mouth tastes of meat and tangy spices, like the lunch Zoro missed earlier this afternoon, and the swordsman's empty stomach utters an audible whining rumble. He's too distracted to pay much mind to his gut because his clothed erection, caught firmly between the ass cheeks grinding against his lap, is throbbing almost painfully, but Luffy snickers in amusement and redoubles his efforts.

The kiss - powered by two years of frustration and unrequited lust - goes on forever, and Zoro eventually starts running out of air. He's forgotten to breathe through his nose because Luffy's abruptly changed angles and added an extra excited wiggle to his rocking and grinding, the movement nearly forceful enough to press the tip of the swordsman's cock into his body despite the fabric layer between their bodies.

Zoro grunts and struggles to buck his hips - frustrated as hell because his goddamn trousers prevent any actual penetration and he wants them gone, immediately - but his captain shows no signs of backing off or relinquishing his mouth, even when he starts making muffled protests and squirming fitfully, and it's a long time before those insistent lips leave his.

When Luffy finally pulls away, releasing the swordsman's wrists, he leans back on his heels and wipes saliva from his chin. He looks immensely satisfied as he watches Zoro struggle to catch his breath, jaw hanging open and chest heaving. His freed hands rest palms-up at his sides, as though he doesn't have the strength to lift them, and his face is downright blazing with color, his pupil dilated hugely.

"I don't wanna wait anymore. I want Zoro - right now," Luffy tells him, grinning delightedly when Zoro shivers and swallows thickly at his words. The captain is abruptly compelled to seize his swordsman's bobbing adam's apple in his mouth, and because he's never been particularly good at restraining his impulses, he does it without another thought, leaning forward and digging his teeth against the taut skin hard enough to leave his mark.

Zoro curses and cuffs him hard enough that they tumble off the sofa into the table dugout. Luffy bangs his head forcefully against the table leg on the way down, but he's now laughing too hard to care, and they roll around on the floor, exchanging blows and bites and stealing kisses and both feeling immensely relieved to be touching each other again.

But when the older pirate, blood thundering in his temples, reaches for his captain's erection, he's stonewalled.

"C'mon, damn it," Zoro protests when his groping hand's batted insistently away for the third time, earning him a glare and a pinched nipple from Luffy, who dismisses the swordsman's complaints - which are suspiciously like whining, although they're both resolutely pretending that neither of them notices.

"I'm gonna do Zoro," Luffy insists as he pushes the larger man down on his back and quickly divests him of pants, kicking them out from under the table.

Zoro props himself up on his elbows to watch, tensing as Luffy grasps his exposed cock and leans forward, clearly intending to stuff it in his mouth with the same enthusiasm that he uses when inhaling drumsticks, bones and all. "Shit, I should've known you'd still be so fucking rough! If you bite me, I'm gonna throw you overboard."

Scowling as though he's insulted by the implication, Luffy hovers over him with his open mouth poised but out of reach, and glares up the swordsman's body until Zoro growls at him and tries to rock his hips upwards. The captain's firm grip around his cock's base prevents him from reaching his goal, although feeling a hand other than his own after two years of awkward, secretive masturbation is fucking wonderful.

"Bastard," he hisses, clenching his fists but restraining the temptation to actually swing one because those fingers are slowly tightening on his flesh. "Quit teasing me!"

"I've been waiting just as long as Zoro," Luffy grumbles and suddenly lunges forward, engulfing the swordsman's straining cock in his mouth and producing noisy slurping sounds as he attacks with a swirling tongue. He applies just a grazing hint of teeth as he works his mouth up and down the shaft, and Zoro's elbows give out. The swordsman drops flat on his back with a low groan, fingers clawing into the floorboards beneath him.

Luffy gives blowjobs just like he fights and eats - playfully sloppy, with a whole lot of very interesting improvising.

The overwhelmed swordsman's squeezing his eyes tightly closed and doesn't see Luffy struggling to open a container without actually looking at it as he continues his onslaught, so the cool liquid suddenly dripping down his balls and pooling under his ass is a complete and very startling surprise. Zoro bolts upright on his hands and narrowly avoids slamming his head into the table's underside, gasping, "What the hell?"

Luffy sputters when the cock in his mouth nearly chokes him, jerking his head back and leaving Zoro's flesh wet with saliva.

"Cooking oil," the captain explains cheerfully, tossing the empty flask onto the swordsman's chest. "See, I didn't forget!"

He's been planning this, Zoro realizes, ever since things started getting weird between them and possibly even before then. Although they apparently both forgot to add lube to their Sabaody shopping lists, so Luffy's resorted to pinching supplies from the kitchen again, a thought that brings back quite a few entertaining memories.

"Ero-cook's gonna be pissed you're stealing his stuff again," he warns, reaching down to pick up the vial for a closer look and promptly crushing it in his fist when a warm, wet mouth reclaims him and oil-slicked fingers start skating over the sensitive flesh under his balls. Impatient elbows nudge the swordsman's thighs further apart, giving Luffy the access he needs to trace small, teasing circles around the puckered entrance under the pad of his thumb.

"D-Damn it, Luffy, can't you-" His request for his captain to go just a bit slower is interrupted by the click and creak of the door opening into the men's quarters, and he freezes. Luffy's eyes go towards the door, but he refuses to let go or even stop sucking when Zoro recovers enough to start pushing him away.

"Oi, where the hell are you shitty perverts?"

There's a brief scuffle under the table as Zoro starts yanking on Luffy's ear and lets go quickly, swearing profusely, when teeth rake him a little too roughly. They glare at each other, nostrils flaring.

Sanji nonchalantly kicks Zoro's wrinkled pants across the floor as he approaches the table, and the swordsman bristles at seeing the cook's disregard for his personal property. Only Luffy's firm grasp on his cock keeps him from exploding out from under the table.

"Sorry to interrupt you-" Sanji drawls, his tone absolutely insincere as he leans over and grinds out his cigarette in the ashtray sitting on the table. "-but dinner will be ready in an hour. If you want to eat, I suggest you be there. Not that I give a shit."

"Then go away," Zoro grumbles, his temper overriding the distraction of Luffy's mouth.

"Oh, so you actually are under there. Such a rather appropriate location for a marimo, rolling around under a table."

"Fuck off and get out."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Sanji sits down on the table's edge and sighs loudly. "I told Nami-san that you could go find your own food, but she insisted that I find and bring you to the dining hall to make sure you both eat."

Zoro seriously contemplates punching the cook's legs, which look as though they might be just within reach, but his murderous thoughts are interrupted by Luffy, who is trying to express his utter distress at being excluded from dinner. Of course, he's trying to talk with his lips still wrapped the swordsman's cock, and he doesn't share Zoro's unique ability to speak with his mouth full, so his protests come out muffled and unintelligible.

"-the hell?" Sanji demands, hopping off the table and backing away a few steps. To Zoro's glee, he nearly trips over the dirty laundry heap that's been steadily accumulating since the day they returned to the ship.

"Didn't you STOP when I came in?"

"O-Oi, Luffy, isn't Nami always telling you not to talk with your mouth full?" Zoro asks, grinning evilly at the captain sprawled between his thighs, and of course Luffy starts laughing, because it's usually Franky and Brook who tell the dirty jokes. The swordsman's forced to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from moaning loudly at the interesting vibrations that quiver through his lower body.

"Shit, I did not need that mental imagery. I'll tell Nami that you're… on your way." The cook heads for the door, clawing at his shirt pocket for another cigarette.

Zoro smirks as he watches the black clad feet retreat, pleased to have gotten the last word. "Yeah, tell her that we're co-"

Luffy, master of bad timing, chooses this rather inopportune moment to sink not one but two fingers into him, curling them sharply, and the swordsman makes a desperate keening noise that sends Sanji scurrying out the door and slamming it behind him, accompanied by excessive cursing and violent threats that he doesn't intend to follow through with because executing them involves actual physical contact and the cook would also like to escape with his retinas intact.

"Shit, Luffy!" Zoro growls, wriggling away from the snickering rubber man so he can struggle out from under the table. He barely makes it to the sofa before Luffy lunges forward and catches him, pulling both wrists behind his back and leaning forward to plant kisses punctuated by small delicate bites up his spine.

When he struggles, he's pushed down chest-first on the sofa with his knees on the floor, his protests muffled against the cushions. Panting breaths caress his shoulder as his captain fumbles eagerly between their bodies, his fingers shaking too badly to cooperate as he tries to align himself, and Zoro fights to get his face out of the padding so he can get enough air in his lungs to demand that Luffy stop screwing around and get to it already, before one or possibly both of them go off prematurely.

Luffy nips his shoulder sharply in response, prompting another string of curses that's abruptly cut off when he finally succeeds in lodging the tip of his cock in place and starts pressing his hips forward. The swordsman groans, jaw clenching as he presses back to help drive his captain deeper despite the slow burning sensation that his tensed muscles earn him.

He knows he could relax, make his lover's entrance easier on them both, but he wants to savor the sensation of his body slowly stretching and being filled, and they're both panting harshly by the time Luffy's fully buried, his chest and stomach molded tightly to Zoro's back. The younger pirate buries his sweaty face against the warm skin under his nose and whimpers, digging his fingernails into the swordsman's hips hard enough to leave small white crescents.

"Oh, oh fuck-" Zoro wheezes breathlessly against the sofa's back, grunting as his captain's hand scrapes down to give his aching cock an encouraging squeeze. The other hand squeezes between his ribcage and the sofa, splaying across his chest and pulling his torso upright, arms trapped against his sides, as Luffy leans back slightly.

"T-Tight," he gasps breathlessly, not quite daring to move yet because the throbbing heat surrounding him feels so good that he's not sure he'll be able to hold back. He concentrates on the rapid heartbeat under his palm, tilting his head to rub his cheek against Zoro's back, and slides his hand back up the swordsman's belly, his fingertips tracing the ridge of scar tissue from hip to chest.

He listens as Zoro forces his breathing to slow, his lungs performing a carefully controlled inhale-exhale under Luffy's ear as he utilizes some sort of meditative technique to calm himself, and realizes that his swordsman learned this discipline from the same man who left the scar that he's now exploring. The same man who also left him with only one eye.

He's suddenly inexplicably angry with the swordsman pinned against his body and bitterly jealous of Mihawk; the same conflicting emotions he's been struggling with since Zoro strolled onto the Sunny and refused to offer anyone an excuse for his missing eye. Every time he looked across the dinner table, Luffy's gaze had been irresistibly drawn to his nakama's face as he wondered why the hell one scar wasn't enough. He hates looking at what he considers Mihawk's sigil, on HIS swordsman.

"Don't lose again," he mutters against Zoro's skin, dragging his nails across the scar tissue beneath them as he shifts back, immensely pleased when the movement earns him a gasp of protest as he starts pulling his cock free from where it's impaled in the swordsman's body.

"W-Wha-?"

The confusion evident in that voice annoys him; Zoro's been oblivious to the real problem - it's not the missing eye that renders his captain's blood boiling. His swordsman could be missing an arm, hell, even both arms and both legs, and Luffy wouldn't look at him any differently. It's knowing who dealt the blow that infuriates him.

He knows that people looking at the older pirate for the first time tend to notice the scars before anything else, and he's never liked that much, because they're just a small part of the whole Zoro package. His swordsman's not just the psychotic ex-bounty hunter that everybody else seems to see. And after two years, even their own nakama's eyes were drawn to the new scar before anything else - and Sanji called Zoro a shitty pain junky and Nami called him a testosterone-blinded idiot, and he's positive they were all thinking about Mihawk again.

It always goes back to that bastard, and Luffy can't help thinking that it's like Mihawk keeps engraving his goddamn name in Zoro's skin - veni, vidi, vici, try again harder next time - and after the insanity and despair of Marineford, where Luffy learned that sometimes all your hopes crash and burn regardless of your efforts and heroes die, people you hold dear die and there's nothing you can do about it - he wants to scrawl his own name on the swordsman, make his own mark. This is mine and I'll die, I'll even kill, to protect what I love, so don't touch.

But he swore a long time ago to never interfere with Zoro's goals and he'll never break that promise, even if it means standing aside while his lover issues the thousandth challenge, so he's neatly trapped.

Luffy can't articulate much of this into actual thoughts and most of it occurs subconsciously, in a matter of moments as he lifts his head and stares down at the droplets of sweat collecting in the fine green hair on the nape of Zoro's neck. He knows he feels angry and that Mihawk is an asshole for trying to steal his swordsman, but the rest of it makes little to no sense. While he usually shrugs and moves on to something else, this particular mystery's got a sharp set of teeth hooked into him and that pisses him off.

"I don't want that Hawk Eyes guy cutting up Zoro again!" Luffy snaps, his anger lending him the control he needs to move without accidentally sending himself over the edge. He slams his hips forward, his last coherent thought that he wants to make Zoro writhe and scream his name, because for all his haughty demeanor and excellent swordplay and his stupid plumed hat, Mihawk's never been able to claim his swordsman in this way at least.

Slammed against the sofa by the force behind the thrust, Zoro is so startled by the unconcealed jealousy in his captain's voice that he chokes on the cry of protest emerging from his throat, more tears beading in the corners of his eye. He's given no time to recover before Luffy lays into him, crushing him flat on the cushions and trapping his hands behind his back in an unbreakable arm-lock.

His spine screeches in protest, echoed by an ominous creaking from the sofa beneath him as he's driven into rough and fast. A disconnected corner of his mind observes that even though the ship's furniture is bolted to the floor, Luffy's fucking him hard enough that the whole thing might break loose and tip over backwards anyway, and if the sex doesn't kill him, their shipwright might.

This is immediately followed by the thought that he'll die happy anyway, if his captain will just-

Luffy abruptly releases his pinned arms, hands dropping from his chest to grab his hips with bruising strength as the younger pirate finds a new angle that puts his pounding cock exactly where Zoro wants it and traps the swordsman's erection against the sofa. He's gripping the cushions with white-knuckled fingers before he even realizes his hands are free, the friction from both sides driving all thought from his mind, and he's far too distracted by the sparks sizzling through his vision to hear the small gasping cries escaping his own mouth.

Sliding both hands forward to rake nails across Zoro's inner thighs, Luffy tugs the swordsman tighter against him. It gives him less room to maneuver, forcing his thrusts to shorten until he's rocking his hips instead of plunging wildly, although he's still putting punishing force into his movements. His thumbs accidentally graze the rigid flesh jutting between them and then again deliberately when he discovers that his touch prompts needy eager whimpering - the older pirate is actually whimpering - and Luffy feels a bubble of excitement rising in his chest.

"Zoro~" he croons in the shuddering swordsman's ear, stretching forward to catch dangling gold earrings between his teeth. Shifting his knees wider, he leans back on the balls of his feet to brace himself, freeing one hand to pull Zoro's torso off the sofa until he's pressed firmly against Luffy's chest.

His breathing quick and shallow, because he's now off-balance, supported only by his captain's body at his back, and it's making him feel even more vulnerable than being squashed flat on his stomach, the swordsman whines as his captain's tongue and lips toy with his earlobe, clicking the metal droplets together. Luffy's fingertips leave a trail of fire down the underside of his cock, but when he reaches down to grasp himself, there's a sharp warning nip applied to the curve of his ear.

Zoro wants to sob when the fingers retreat to catch his questing hand.

"Zoro needs to beat that guy, cause I need the strongest swordsman in the world," Luffy purrs, punctuating each word with a twisting nudge of his hips as he twines their fingers and presses down so their cupped palms encircle the head of his lover's shaft. He flicks his thumb across Zoro's tip, smearing the beads of moisture leaking from it, and the swordsman bucks into their joint grip with a loud mewling sound, his fingers convulsing tighter and his free hand flailing to grab the edge of the sofa.

His arching body buys Luffy a bit more room, and he takes advantage of it, lengthening his thrusts until he's nearly pulling out each time he draws back. The older pirate's trembling violently, incapable of restraining the choked moans that escape his parted lips, and he's apparently forgotten how to work his fingers, because he's letting Luffy guide their hands up and down his erection.

Licking wetly behind Zoro's ear and grazing the side of his neck with a love bite barely restrained from drawing blood, the captain decides he's through playing around. He can't hold out much longer anyway, not while listening to the desperate noises escaping his swordsman and the audible slap and slide of sweat and oil-drenched flesh.

"Zoro~"

He slides searching fingers across the broad chest under his hand, brushing past the dipped furrow of Zoro's scar until he finds a pebbled nipple. He rolls it under his thumb, tweaks and tugs as he nuzzles his chin against the swordsman's shoulder, coaxing and cajoling his body towards release.

"L-Luffy, I'm-"

He's not sure what possesses him. He can't remember ever saying it before, and it's what Mihawk calls his swordsman, so maybe he's jealous and wants to put his own claim in. Or maybe he just wants to try it out and hear how it sounds. It doesn't really matter.

"Roronoa," he breathes as his hands caress and stroke and squeeze. "Roronoa Zoro..."

A low shuddering cry answers him, and he can feel Zoro tensing, against his chest, in his hand, around his cock, so he says it again. "Roronoa Zoro's mine."

"Oh god-"

Zoro convulses in his grasp, back bowing as he careens into orgasm, and his body clenches down so forcefully that Luffy's teeth clamp down on his shoulder. Unlike his previous bites, this one breaks skin and draws blood, but the swordsman's barely aware of it because he's coming hard enough for black spots to swim in his vision, and he howls his captain's name as his cock pulses and spills between their fingers.

xxx

In the women's quarters upstairs, Nami jumps and knocks a glass bottle of perfume off the vanity she shares with Robin, which shatters when it hits the floor. The liquid inside quickly soaks through the floorboards, and the guys will complain for weeks about the flowery scent seeping through the ceiling.

xxx

Franky, who's already making repairs to the damaged lawn deck with the fussy precision of a mother hen, nearly leaps out of his skin. "What the-!"

"Ah, good; isn't it wonderful that our nakama are finally getting along again?" Robin asks him, smiling, as she sprouts helping hands to catch the bag he's dropped before the grass seed spills.

xxx

Zoro's knees don't want to hold him upright, even kneeling, and he sags in his captain's grasp, panting heavily. His heart feels like it's throwing itself around his ribcage in an attempt to escape, and he's slightly alarmed when the hazy aftereffects smothering his brain clear enough for him to register that there's still a hard cock buried in him, because Luffy hasn't come yet.

He's already sore and exhausted, moisture dripping down his chest where a couple of stray spurts caught him, and he has the sneaking suspicion that he might just pass out if his overworked body doesn't get a break. He tenses when the younger pirate shifts, wondering if Luffy really does intend to fuck him unconscious, but to his surprise, his captain carefully slides free. He gropes for the sofa with a shaking hand and leans against it.

It takes every ounce of Luffy's willpower to pull out of Zoro's body and lurch to his feet, standing over the slumping swordsman and reaching down to stroke himself over the edge. The orgasm slams through his body like a rampaging sea train, and he bites his lower lip, forcing his eyelids to stay open even though his eyes want to roll back in his head. He wants to see this.

His cock twitches in his grasp, warmth bursting past his knuckles to paint the still trembling body of the swordsman beneath him. Zoro's eye is partly closed, but it flies wide open when the first spurt splatters the back of his neck, and he turns his head to watch over his shoulder, cheek mashed against the sofa.

He doesn't quite get it, but from the way the rubber man's eyeing him, with a flushed face and half-lidded dark eyes, he suspects that his captain's pretty turned on by what he's doing, and if he wasn't so damn tired and his body was actually cooperating, he might actually turn over and let Luffy hit him on the stomach a time or two, just to see his reaction. Sure, it's probably a little weird, but eh, whatever.

Considering how much time he's spent covered in his own blood, this is just another bodily fluid. He's more interested in whether this was one of those spur-of-the-moment things his captain's notorious for or something that he's been turning over in his mysteriously-functioning mind for a while now, because Luffy's actually so intrigued that he's not talking or laughing, which is far stranger than what he actually is doing.

Either way, as he plies his dripping cock and stares fixedly at the wet patches he's creating on the Zoro's skin, he's curling his toes - as though he's fighting the impulse to bounce up and down - which has always been a dead giveaway that he's extremely pleased with himself. When he finally winds down and decides he's finished, he drops onto the sofa and lays there panting heavily, his knee bumping against the swordsman's shoulder.

They're both silent for a while, catching their breath, but it's a comfortable silence. Eventually Zoro struggles into a sitting position with the sofa at his back, wincing and hoping no one's going to notice him walking funny for the next day or so - possibly longer if the ache in his posterior is any indication. He glares over at Luffy. "My ass is killing me, and you made a fucking mess."

Grinning, because the older pirate's ire distinctly lacks any force when there's ejaculate dripping from his earrings and trickling down his front and back, Luffy slides off the sofa into his lap and pokes a finger against his chest. "Mine."

Whatever odd urge was griping the captain is apparently gone, although there's no mistaking that he's thoroughly laid his claim. The swordsman supposes he ought to count himself lucky when he considers that dogs and cats piss on things to mark their territory.

"Tch," Zoro grimaces, peering around for something to wipe himself off. "Yeah, yours. All over me."

"Shishishishi."

Part of the laundry heap is within reach around the sofa, and Zoro snags what he's pretty sure is one of the cook's t-shirts, smirking as he uses it to mop up some of the mess. It doesn't help much; he seriously needs a visit to the bathhouse before they hit the galley for dinner.

Pain flares in his shoulder when the fabric brushes broken skin, and he remembers belatedly that Luffy bit him pretty damn hard. Sure enough, his fingers come away bloody.

His captain's watching him closely, but he doesn't offer an apology or look the least bit sorry.

"Chopper's not going to be happy."

"Don't care," Luffy hums contentedly. He reaches up to trace the ring of teeth marks, mouth contorting into a very smug grin. "I made Zoro make a lot of noise..."

The swordsman grumbles and cuffs him, but he doesn't bother arguing because he's well aware that he probably sounded like a goddamn girl thanks to all his whimpering and panting and moaning, particularly near the end. He couldn't help it though, not with some of the shit Luffy was doing to him, scrambling all his pain and pleasure sensors, which have always been a bit screwy to begin with - and especially not with that last bit. Whatever prompted him to-?

Zoro doesn't think he's ever heard his captain call anybody by their full name, nakama or otherwise. Hell, most people are lucky if Luffy even manages to remember part of their name and doesn't just keep referring to them with some stupid nickname. But he never uses full names, not for anyone.

Hearing his own spoken like that, low and urgent and demanding...

"Don't look so proud of yourself, asshole," he mutters, leaning his head back against the cushion and closing his eyes as a wave of dizziness sweeps through him.

"Zoro?"

He doesn't realize that he's blacked out, he's actually fucking fainted, until he comes to with his captain patting his cheeks, bemused face peering down into his. The older pirate captures and pushes the hands down before they get carried away and stick a finger up his nose or poke him in the eye, but he doesn't let go, clasping Luffy's fingers with his own as he traps them against his own chest.

"Food~," his captain insists, squeezing back, and Zoro realizes he's right. The swordsman's been running on nothing more than booze for the last few days; he's reasonably sure the last time he went this long without food or decent sleep, he was tied to a post and being asked to join a pirate crew by the same man who's just bounded out of his lap and is now tugging insistently on his arm.

Add rough sex to the mix and it's no wonder he feels like he's been stomped on by a sea king.

It's weird, he thinks as he lets Luffy drag him upright, how certain stuff doesn't hurt that much while you're doing it, burning too brightly with lust and too caught up in the moment to really notice, but then your body starts screaming bloody murder as soon as your adrenaline dies down. Yet another reason why fucking and fighting often feel so much alike.

He's on his feet, wobbling slightly but determined not to fall on his ass and staring down at his rumpled, grass-stained trousers, wondering if he's going to be able to bend down and pick them up without his spine dislocating, when a peculiar fragrance tickles his olfactory system. "Gah, what reeks?"

"He who smelt it, dealt it," his captain states seriously, quoting that stupid catch phrase he learned from Usopp.

Zoro smacks him. "I'm not talking about farts, you idiot! It smells like that time the shit cook bought all those goddamn flowers for Robin's birthday."

Roses, all over the ship, and he'd been picking thorns out of his feet for days even after Nami demanded that Sanji get rid of them so Chopper would stop skulking around with his hooves over his nose.

He wrinkles his own, ignoring Luffy's whining as the younger pirate rubs his bruised skull. "Forget it. Let's go get washed up before that curly-brow bastard decides he's not feeding us."

"Food!"

"Oi, get back here and put some frickin' clothes on!"


	3. Chapter 3

"You don't need to hold my hand!"

"But Zoro might get lost!"

"I know how to find the goddamn dining hall," the swordsman snarls as he lunges forward to grab the edge of the door Luffy's just shoved open, preventing it from rebounding into his captain's face because he's stopped dead in the doorway to argue.

"But Zoro always-" Luffy's nostrils distend, scenting the air, and he spins and bounds inside with a squeal of excitement. "Food! Foodfoodfoodfoodfood!"

"Oi, Luffy, give that back!" Usopp yelps as stretchy fingers assault his plate. He tackles the frantically chewing captain to the floor, struggling to pry his jaws open, and they roll around and nearly knock Zoro off his feet as he passes, heading for an empty chair.

"It's about time, you two! I was just asking someone to go-" A delicate cough. "-wake you from your nap."

"A-Anything for Nami-san," Sanji agrees weakly, because the navigator obviously didn't buy his story about not retrieving their shitty nakama because he didn't want to disturb their sleep. He fixes Zoro with a stony glare before his mellorine's raised fist sends him scurrying to the opposite end of the table to refill Robin-chwan's glass.

The swordsman's gloating ends abruptly as a fist connects forcefully with his head. "OW! What the hell's your problem, Nami?"

"You-" the navigator emphasizes that he's definitely the source of her ill temper by jabbing her index finger repeatedly into his temple, "-owe me for a very expensive flacon of perfume."

Zoro knocks her hand away, ignoring Sanji's squall of indignation several seats down. "Bullshit; I've never touched any of your crap, much less that bottled cat piss."

"Rosewater," Nami hisses, narrowing her eyes, and Franky and Brook take one look at her and flee to join Sanji at Robin's end of the table, where they start a loud and animated conversation about the weather.

"Cat piss, rosewater, whatever, it all smells the-"

"It cost me 250,000 beli and it fell off my dresser when you idiots started throwing the furniture around!"

Which isn't exactly true, she thinks, but there's no way she's going to admit that she accidentally broke it herself. It's still their fault, anyway, for nearly sending her through the ceiling with all that thumping and caterwauling. At least they both showed up for dinner freshly washed and dressed, and she most certainly is not feeling a faint twinge of disappointment at this. No, no, she isn't.

Usopp and Luffy freeze where they've been flailing around under the table, the sniper's hands wrapped around the captain's neck in a last ditch attempt to make him spit out his ill-gotten dinner roll by banging his head against the floor. They both know you don't piss Nami off where money is concerned, and their best bet for survival involves cowering quietly until Zoro agrees to pay her back.

Unfortunately, the swordsman - who would really love to know why HE's always held responsible regardless of Luffy's involvement - is too incensed by the fact that a bottle of scented water costs nearly a quarter as much as a Ryo Wazamono-grade kitana to just peacefully capitulate, so it's very possible that no one will escape alive. "That's fucking insane!"

"Watch your mouth, shitty Marimo! Show some respect!"

"Watch your own goddamn mouth, you stupid asshole!"

Nami's ire is temporarily forgotten as everyone scrambles to escape flying feet and swinging swords, and the navigator slumps back into her chair with a sigh, offering Robin a wry smile. "I should have known that two years wouldn't make a difference. Those two still act like a couple of five-year-olds fighting over a toy."

"True, but it's no less entertaining to watch," the historian laughs, sprouting a small cluster of hands that work together to prevent Zoro from smashing into the table hard enough send plates of food flying when he skids backwards under the force of the cook's foot braced on his swords. They soften the impact and he promptly bounces off them back into the fray.

The squabbling finally stops when Chopper unexpectedly emerges from the infirmary and the swordsman, dodging a heel aimed at his nose, trips over the startled doctor and crashes to the floor. In the process of twisting to avoid crushing his much smaller nakama, he lands hard on his already tender rear and immediately decides he's had enough roughhousing for one day, thank you. He re-sheathes his swords and chooses to ignore Sanji's strident demands for him to stop being a pussy and fight seriously.

"Ah, Zoro, are you alright?"

Grimacing up at Robin, his face pale, he crosses his arms across his chest. "I'm just- fine. Somebody pass me a plate."

"You're going to eat on the floor?"

"What's wrong with that?" Zoro grumbles, although he's glaring past Usopp when he answers, giving his captain a very dirty look, and at least Luffy's got enough consideration to look sheepish as he stares back, considering he's the rubbery bastard responsible for the swordsman's aching ass and lower back.

He decides right then and there that he's heading straight to the bathhouse after this, and nobody - including Nami - is prying him out of the tub until he's damn well decided that he's done soaking.

In the end, he's forced to drag himself upright and ease gingerly into the nearest empty chair, because Sanji steadfastly refuses to let anyone, even the shitty swordsman who doesn't appreciate his culinary masterpieces, eat off the floor. Luffy clambers into the seat beside him and, still looking uncharacteristically cowed, slides the platter of roast meat in his direction.

Zoro's sufficiently appeased that he pretends not to notice the captain not-so-stealthily appropriating slices under his nose as he loads his plate, although the cook is not so forgiving and nonchalantly clocks his rival's elbow in the process of smacking Luffy's fingers with a serving spoon.

"Oi, watch it, ero-cook!"

"My fingers slipped."

The swordsman decides he's too hungry to bother retaliating and settles for glowering menacingly at the sneering cook, shoveling food into his mouth even as he reaches across the table to add the finishing touches to his plate, because Luffy's now eyeing it longingly. Although his captain's displaying remarkable restraint, he doesn't trust it to last, so he concentrates on filling his empty stomach before everything starts vanishing down the younger pirate's bottomless gullet.

"You guys are disgusting," Nami sighs, lifting her own plate out of reach as a questing hand shoots across the table to snag any morsel that's not being meticulously guarded. "Is it too much to ask for you to eat like normal, civilized-"

She breaks off, staring.

"Huh?" Zoro grunts around the biscuit he's just crammed into his mouth to prevent Luffy from stealing it right out of his hand. He frowns, realizing that the room's gone silent and everyone's staring at- no, they're staring behind him, and a rather large shadow's fallen over both him and his captain.

"Zoro," a low voice growls, voice filled with outrage. "-why are you bleeding?"

"Holy shit!" Franky blurts, his eyes enormous, and when Luffy glances up curiously, his jaw drops open and he utters an ear-splitting squeal of delight.

"Chopper, that's so COOL!"

"Oh my, Doctor-san's changed quite a bit, hasn't he?"

"Very impressive, Chopper-san - my eyes are absolutely bulging from their very sockets! Or they would be, if I had eyes! Yohohohoho, skull joke!"

Zoro, who's finally glanced around to see why the hell everyone's freaking out, blinks once as he gazes up at the doctor but remains otherwise unruffled, although he finds himself mentally agreeing with Robin. The reindeer's Heavy Point form was already formidable to being with, but two years of training have resulted in some pretty impressive developments.

A bit more fur and far more muscle, like they've already seen the first time he showed them his new Walking Point, but the swordsman immediately recognizes that the most dramatic change is Chopper's demeanor. He's relaxed and at ease in his own skin, no longer stiff or awkward in the form that allows him to pass as almost human.

He's also seriously pissed off.

"Why didn't you tell me you were injured?"

"Wha- oh, that. Don't freak out, I already washed it." Zoro grunts when he follows the doctor's gaze and discovers that there's several small crimson blotches blooming through his shirt. The brief exchange with Sanji must have reopened a few of the deeper tooth marks. He shrugs and lunges for another biscuit, because they're rapidly vanishing as Luffy, still staring gleefully up at Chopper, is stuffing them into his mouth one by one.

His fingers close on empty air as he's grabbed by the scruff and hauled back into his seat. "Oi, Chopper, I said don't worry about it! I'll go soak it after I'm done eating."

The reindeer ignores this, yanking the swordsman's shirt sideways off his shoulder and muttering angrily under his breath when the fabric sticks stubbornly before pulling loose where it's glued itself to the broken skin beneath. Zoro doesn't bother flinching, because the same thing's only happened about a hundred times before and he's too busy hoping that he can wriggle free before Luffy notices that last unclaimed dinner roll on the-

Fuck, too late, there it goes.

"Damn it, Zoro, I'm a doctor - you're supposed to let me treat your injuries, not try to patch them up yourself! And no, your shirt doesn't count as a bandage! This will probably scar if I don't-"

"Quit bugging me and grab some food before our idiot captain eats it all," the older pirate grumbles, yanking his shirt out of Chopper's grasp and shrugging it back into place.

"I said-"

"Leave it alone, Chopper."

Although he's using his serious Sencho voice - the sedate you're-going-to-listen-to-me-right-now tone and not the overly excited ooh-ooh-quick-follow-that-giant-frog-cause-I-wanna-eat-it one - their captain's displaying a toothy grin so wide that not much else is visible under the shadow of his hat.

"LUFFY-!"

"You heard the captain," Zoro tells the infuriated doctor before turning his attention back to the table, and apparently Luffy's been sufficiently distracted with the knowledge that he might have left a permanent scar on his lover, because the swordsman's amazed to see that there's actually still food on his plate.

"There's something wrong with you, Mugiwara, being proud about leaving scratches and bite marks all over other people," Franky mutters as he uses the smaller hand concealed in his gigantic palm to scratch his head, because the rubber man's puffed up like a rooster and looking exceedingly pleased with himself.

"Nah, nobody else, just Zoro-" Luffy laughs, flinging his arms around the green-haired pirate's torso in a rib-crushing hug. "-cause he's mine."

Several heads turn to gauge the swordsman's reaction to this abrupt proclamation, but Zoro just quirks an eyebrow at the smaller pirate clinging to his side and calmly continues eating. At least until Luffy leans in and brushes lips against his ear. "Ro-ro-no-a."

Zoro's fork completely misses the potato he's stretching out to spear, and Usopp - who's reaching innocently for the salad tongs - shrieks as the utensil's tongs stab into the back of his hand. Pandemonium ensues as the sniper explodes out of his chair, colliding with Brook, while Chopper - no longer in Heavy Point - runs wildly around the table screaming for a doctor and Sanji hollers for the shitty long nose to quit bleeding all over the table cloth.

Red-faced and cursing, the swordsman nearly jabs his captain in the eye with the silverware he's still clutching in one hand as he reaches out to grab him by the collar, intent on shaking Luffy until his brains rattle. He drops the fork and it clatters to the floor. "DON'T DO THAT!"

"Why not? Zoro sure liked when I said it while I-"

"Enough, I don't need details!" Franky roars, knocking both men clear over the kitchen counter as he tries to clap a massive hand over Luffy's mouth. "Even a pervert has standards!"

Sighing, because she's obviously the only one capable of restoring order - the historian is laughing too hard to offer any real help - Nami thumps Chopper on the head as he passes her, sharply reminding the doctor of his duties and pushing him towards the wailing sniper.

"Courage, Usopp-san!" Brook soothes as he nudges his nakama back into his seat so the reindeer can examine his injured hand. "I would sympathize with your pain if I only-"

"Look what you made me do!" Zoro hisses at Luffy as they peer over the countertop, reluctant to rejoin the table because their navigator's smacking the protesting skeleton in his bushy afro with her empty plate and demanding stridently that he put a rest to his deplorable jokes.

"I didn't tell Zoro to fork Usopp!" his captain protests, and the swordsman winces because the younger pirate's whisper is possibly louder than his normal speaking voice.

He grabs Luffy around the waist, muffling the yip of surprise with his free hand. "C'mon, let's get out of here before that crazy bitch starts hitting us too."

The rubber man paws at his captor's arm, eyes rolling imploringly towards the table, because there's still food on it, but Zoro ignores him and bolts for the dining hall door. He'll apologize to Usopp later, when the sniper's settled down and they're less likely to draw an angry mob.

The swordsman's sure he's going to have another fight on his hands when Sanji's head snaps up and turns in his direction, but the cook loses precious moments trying to squeeze past Franky's ridiculous bulk - it's a mystery just how the hell he fit through the doorway like that anyway - and is reduced to shouting insults when he's unwittingly trapped between the cyborg and the table.

Nami's also yelling after him, something about watch and skinning him alive if he hogs all the hot water, as he throws open the door and charges out onto the deck with Luffy in tow, confidently telling himself that they're not running away but merely making a strategic retreat.


	4. Chapter 4

Zoro thinks he'd gladly spend all night soaking if he wasn't positive that he'll eventually fall asleep and accidentally drown himself.

Although he might drown anyway, comatose or not, if Luffy doesn't quit pretending he's a sea king and sending miniature tidal waves crashing across the surface of the tub, splashing hot bathwater into Zoro's face and turning the tile floor into a maze of puddles.

"Can't you sit and relax like a normal person?" The swordsman growls, knowing that his protest is futile even as he voices it, because he's been well aware since day one that his captain and normalcy are sailing on two entirely different ships. "Look, my goddamn towel's soaking wet."

Luffy purses his lips and blows a rather loud raspberry. "Zoro doesn't need a towel when it's just me."

"Look, I know you're thrilled as shit that Franky upgraded the seawater purifier so you don't sink like a rock every time you get in the tub, but some of us would like to dry off when we're done. And you've got half the water on the floor. Nami's gonna have a fucking cow if she doesn't have enough for a bath when her watch shift- QUIT PICKING YOUR NOSE AND PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"

To his increased annoyance, Luffy bursts into laughter.

"What the hell's so funny?"

His captain refuses to answer; the younger pirate just shakes his head and continues laughing uproariously; although everyone tends to describe Zoro as a man of few words, sometimes it's like the swordsman suddenly pops a cork and then he just doesn't shut up. He never talks this much around their nakama, not even when he's actively feuding with Sanji - which always involves a whole lot of grunting and posturing and crude insults - but he's never had a problem speaking his mind to Luffy.

It's a relief, after two years of hearing his swordsman's voice only in dreams that he'd already be forgetting when he scrambled upright reaching for someone who wasn't there, and then slightly more than a week of single word exchanges and strained silence. It's a huge relief. Even if Zoro's hollering at him.

He flounders over to join the older pirate and hops up to perch on the windowsill beside him to paddle his feet in the water, his swinging legs brushing his swordsman's shoulder. It's the one sporting the captain's teeth marks and he can't help staring because soaking in the hot water's turned the broken skin an angry red.

"You're such an asshole," Zoro grumbles, grinning when he discovers the subject of Luffy's interest.

"I was hungry," the younger pirate fires back, "-and Zoro looked like a big, juicy piece of-"

He squawks in alarm as the swordsman's fingers wrap suddenly around his ankle to yank him from his ledge, sending water flying high enough to hit the domed ceiling and sloshing over the side of the tub as he crashes back into it. For a moment he panics, sure that his flailing limbs are going to betray him and go limp as seaweed even though he knows better, and then a powerful arm wraps around his waist and hauls him to the surface.

Water streaming down his face, Luffy opens his mouth to laugh - he walked right into that one, antagonizing the other man while sitting within easy grabbing range - and gives a muffled gasp instead as Zoro pins him against the tub's side and kisses him forcefully enough to bruise his lips against his teeth.

His head may be above water, he muses weakly before he abandons conscious thought in favor of passion-induced delirium, but he's still drowning anyway.

He's panting when he's finally turned loose, head swimming as he leans back against the waterproofed panels for support, trapped by the swordsman's forearms as Zoro grips the edge on either side of him, standing close enough that their lower bodies graze when either of them shifts his weight.

"Land or sea?"

"Huh?" Luffy asks, eyes riveted on the droplets of water glistening on the swordsman's scarred chest.

"Land or sea," Zoro repeats patiently, one hand leaving the rim to lift his captain's chin so he's staring up at the swordsman's face instead, where one dark eye, half-lidded and crinkled in amusement, meets his gaze. "Do you want me to fuck you outside the tub or here in the water?"

Luffy's brain disconnects in a wash of giddiness, because his swordsman- Zoro is talking dirty to him, and it takes him a few seconds to realize that he's still speaking.

"-might have to turn down the temperature 'cause it's so goddamn hot, one of us might pass out."

"I- nrrgh," Luffy chokes, taking a deep breath when his garbled speech earns him a quizzical look, complete with head tilt and a quirked eyebrow. "Land and sea! Both! I want both!"

He launches himself off the side, sending Zoro staggering backwards in the water as rubbery arms wrap snugly around his torso. The swordsman snorts, gently prying him off and hoisting him back onto the window sill, where the captain fidgets restlessly, his fingers fiddling with the erection protruding from his lap as he watches the older pirate exit the tub just long enough to adjust the thermostat.

When he sees that Zoro's hard as well, gleaming and dripping with water, Luffy's mouth goes dry and he shudders, his throbbing cock twitching against his palm. He exhales slowly as his lover slides back into the water and wades back to him with the same easy grace he displays during battle, every movement deliberate and intended to conserve energy.

A nervous flutter tickles inside his stomach, like he's swallowed an angry butterfly, as he becomes overwhelmingly aware that he cut loose on Zoro pretty vigorously earlier and is probably due for some rather harsh retribution. While there might be only one eye rather than two fixed resolutely on him, it doesn't make that steady gaze any less intense.

"No fair starting without me," the swordsman mutters, reaching up to spread his captain's thighs wide with calloused fingers and smirking when Luffy's hands immediately fly out to grab either side of the alcove in which he's perched. He leans in to flick the very tip of his tongue against the underside of the glans hovering before his nose.

There's an urgent inhalation of breath and a dull thud as the back of Luffy's skull connects with the window pane, but for the second time today he's too distracted to notice that he's smacked his head on yet another hard surface. Heart in his throat, he watches that tongue dart back out to wiggle just tantalizingly out of reach only to draw back again by mere centimeters when he strains towards it.

"Z-Zoro, don't-"

"Sucks getting teased, doesn't it?"

"Zoro-"

The swordsman's hands slide further up the insides of his thighs, until both thumbs are close enough to caress and roll his balls. Warm breath gusts against his damp skin and he shivers violently as a wave of goose bumps ripples over his body.

"Do you want me to use my mouth on you?" Zoro rumbles softly, tilting his head to nuzzle his nose and lips into the crease of his captain's groin, and Luffy goes rigid, gasping out loud as cool metal slides across his balls and up the length of his shaft. The older pirate never removes his earrings, not even for baths.

Sharp teeth test themselves against his flesh, making him acutely aware that the swordsman's strong jaws are more than capable of severing his femoral artery. It's a powerful reminder that while Roronoa Zoro might indeed be claimed, he certainly isn't tamed, not in any sense of the word - and Luffy wouldn't have it any other way, because he's always found that aura of danger intriguing, not to mention stimulating.

Their crew mates might consider Sanji as a member of the so-called Monster Trio and the captain will never tell him this because he holds all his nakama dear and knowing the truth would crush the cook, but there's no doubt in the rubber man's mind that Zoro could mop the deck with him if he truly wanted. He's seen the way the swordsman holds back and toys with the other man, sometimes hiding a grin behind the sword clenched in his teeth.

Luffy remembers being distracted during fights, even the serious ones where everyone was forced to pull out all the stops, whenever he saw his swordsman utilizing his three-sword fighting style. He couldn't help the unbidden mental snapshots of Zoro with something very different in his mouth, which frequently convinced his brain to post an out-to-lunch sign so it could commence rolling around between his ears like a delirious tabby in a catnip patch.

The memory of those talented lips wrapping around his cock prompted some furious masturbation following their abrupt separation at Sabaody and more than one incredibly bizarre conversation with the Amazon women. He was grateful enough for their bringing him food during his training, especially after all the monsters on the island somehow crossed the line differentiating friends from food, but they always seemed to pop up at times when he really didn't feel like being bothered.

Boa Hancock turned some pretty interesting colors the one time she personally interrupted him, although - even though he paused long enough to wave hello - Luffy was far too distracted to pay her much attention, his thoughts preoccupied with trying to remember exactly how Zoro's eyes looked when the swordsman's impassioned gaze flashed up to study his captain's reactions to the outrageous maneuvers of his tongue.

Now, finally being offered the real deal after making do with his own touch and fevered imagination for far too long, he wants it so badly that he aches.

"Yes," he hisses, releasing one hand from the window frame to grab a handful of green hair - and there's a bit more to knot between his fingers than there was two years ago - so he can drag the swordsman's head higher.

Zoro doesn't put up a fight, just shoots him a wicked grin made more menacing by his missing eye. "Tell me exactly what you want me to do, Sencho. I'm afraid I'm a little confused. You'll have to explain it to me..."

Luffy growls in frustration, guessing this is another type of payback, because he's never needed to explain what he wants; they've always been too adept at reading each other with that weird, almost supernatural sense of mutual understanding.

His nakama always tease him about his candidness, and he often speaks without thinking, which inevitably gets him into trouble, but this is different. He doesn't curse like Zoro and Sanji, doesn't tell off-color jokes like Franky and Brook, even if he does laugh rather loudly at them. He frequently threatens to kick asses that need kicking, but stronger vocabulary rarely slips in, even when he's overly excited and not thinking about what he's saying. So even though he's being asked to do it, just opening his mouth and telling his swordsman to suck his cock seems a little too-

The older pirate utters an amazed bark of laughter as his captain's face flushes pink. "You're shitting me! Are you actually embarrassed?"

"I am not!" Luffy argues, trying to glare at Zoro without looking him in the face. "I just- it's weird!"

"Oi, Luffy-" the swordsman chuckles, straightening up so he can wrap both arms loosely around the younger pirate's waist. "You bent me over the sofa and fucked the hell out of me, blew your load all over me, and now you're too embarrassed to ask me to give you a blowjob?"

He's shoved away as the color in his captain's face escalates to crimson. "No! I like sex with Zoro, I like- I like hearing Zoro say stuff like that, but I can't talk like that! It'll just sound dumb."

"Ah," Zoro blinks, wondering when Luffy started giving a shit about sounding dumb, given half of the idiotic things he's heard him say in the past. "Well, if you don't want-"

"Put this-" the younger pirate sputters desperately, reaching down to grab his own unflagging erection tightly and pulling, stretching just enough so he can shake it in the startled swordsman's face and bump the tip against his lips. "-in there. NOW. Please?"

"Okay, okay, just stop doing that! It still freaks me out..."

He can count on one hand and still have fingers left over, the number of times he's seen Luffy do this. He supposes it's inevitable, considering the bizarre constitution of the rubber man's body, but it makes Zoro want to cringe because how the hell does it not HURT?

Pouting, Luffy lets go and his shaft retracts. It makes the same bizarre noise that his arms and legs make when they snap back into place, but unlike his arms and legs, his erection bobs cheerfully back and forth after it's returned to its normal length, and the swordsman flinches. "Gah! Luffy, don't do that with your dick."

"Doesn't hurt. Feels goo- nngh," his captain groans, eyes drifting shut as he presses fingertips against the head of his cock to bend it back against his lower belly so it springs free when he pulls his hand away. His face is still deeply flushed, but there's no embarrassment in his expression now as he cracks his eyelids to fix his burning gaze on Zoro. "Like that, but better."

The older pirate licks his lips nervously because he knows exactly what Luffy means, although he's still doubtful. "Do you want me to..."

He trails off without finishing the thought, because although they've done accidental stretch play before - which nearly made Zoro shit a brick the first time he pulled a bit harder than he intended and ended up with a few more inches than he expected - the swordsman's never seriously considered doing it deliberately, and his captain's never dropped any hints that it's something he wants, other than to laugh and say that it might be interesting to try.

But now he's being given a lopsided smile only vaguely tinged with disappointment. "Not if it really bothers-"

"Oh, what the fuck," Zoro mutters, running fingers through his wet hair. "I can't believe I'm really gonna do this. Here, trade spots with me."

There's some splashing and cursing and bruised ribs as they get situated, because the swordsman doesn't quite fit into the window alcove - his ass barely fits on the ledge, although it's just wide enough to keep him from sliding back into the tub - with Luffy perched cross-legged on his lap, facing him, but they manage. The window's glass against Zoro's back feels insanely cold after the heated water in which his lower body's been submersed.

He has a hell of a time at first, because his captain's erection escapes every time his fingers relax too much, making that horrific sproinging noise again, although the younger pirate doesn't seem to mind very much, rewarding him with groans and thorough squirming. Which doesn't help the swordsman remember to keep his grip firm enough, because his own cock's wedged firmly along the crease of Luffy's ass cheeks, and there's no goddamn pants in the way this time.

"You're gonna tell me if I get too rough, right?" Zoro demands, watching closely for signs of distress, because he can't quite get over the pulling-too-hard-equals-pain hurdle in his mind. He leans more of his weight against the window at his back, glad as hell that Franky mentioned using tempered glass throughout the ship, so he can use both hands to stretch the elasticized flesh further away from the rubber man's body. It's kind of like wrestling an overly warm but comatose python.

Lips slightly parted and eyes glazed with pleasure, Luffy can't answer the swordsman with anything more than whimpers as he watches closely, his hands quivering as they clutch at Zoro's shoulders.

"This-" The older pirate remarks as he loops part of his captain's protracted shaft around one wrist so it can't evade him again, "-is really fucking weird."

Curious, he trails the fingers of his other hand down the living rope stretched taut between them and inhales sharply when Luffy abruptly snaps his head back with a loud cry and digs fingertips into his wounded shoulder, hips rocking involuntarily. The younger pirate's exertion increases the pressure on Zoro's cock, drawing a low groan from his throat as his fingers twitch open, but his unorthodox strategy works and the erection in his hand stays put this time.

He bends his neck to swirl his tongue around the head, feeling ridiculous and slightly disturbed because this odd arrangement makes it seem almost as though he's licking an ice cream cone even though the texture and temperature and flavor is totally different, but his captain's enthusiastic - and noisy - reaction is well worth the peculiarity.

A high-pitched whine that's barely audible as the swordsman's name escapes Luffy, and he rakes his nails down Zoro's chest, breath shuddering in and out of his open mouth, when lips first nuzzle and nip and then slide down around him. Slow sucking strokes, and he nearly loses his mind when his shaft's caught delicately between teeth set in a jaw containing enough power to do him serious damage, rubber or not.

"I like being able to watch your face while I do this," Zoro murmurs, his voice muffled but understandable. He's only ever caught glimpses of the way his captain's face contorts when he's on the receiving end of oral sex, but now he can clearly see helpless abandon drawing Luffy's brows together as he responds to the heat and moisture engulfing him. "It really feels that good, huh?"

He caresses the stretched flesh again, fascinated by how he's able to produce the most ardent responses with the slightest touch. If only his hand wasn't starting to go numb; he's only now realizing that the coil around his wrist is rather effectively cutting off the circulation to his fingers. Shit.

Luffy's rear is grinding back against him each time the younger pirate moves, and he's sorely tempted to just force himself into that tight heat, to find out if he's got enough coordination to use his mouth and his cock at the same time. The swordsman shifts cautiously, conscious of the scant inches of security under his rear and wondering exactly how much wiggle room he'll need to pull this off.

His captain has apparently reached the same conclusion - that they're in a good position to try something that will feel absolutely amazing - but he either fails to recognize or chooses to disregard the consequences, because he's suddenly scrambling to climb higher in Zoro's lap, struggling to force their bodies together, and the sudden movement destroys the older pirate's precarious balance. He feels his ass cheeks slipping off the ledge just as Luffy succeeds in working the tip of his cock past that firm ring of muscle, turning his yelp of warning into a choked gasp.

The younger pirate flails in surprise when they unexpectedly hit the water, jarring the swordsman loose as he overreacts by wrapping both arms around his head and neck and one leg around his waist. Thoroughly tangled by rubbery limbs and slightly disoriented, Zoro's forced to carefully extricate himself before he can determine up from down. The rubber man's worse than a goddamn octopus, snaring him with clinging appendages even as he pries them off.

When he finally breaks the surface, blowing bubbles and mad as hell, he's greeted by hysterical giggles. One look at his face, however, and Luffy stops laughing and takes a step back.

The water's depth impedes his futile attempt to flee for safety and he's slammed against the side of the tub hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Hot breath bursts against the back of his neck as rough hands wrestle his hips into position, and he cries out, hands scrabbling wildly for something to cling to, when firm pressure nudges against and then slowly breaches his entrance.

His flailing fingertips encounter the upper rim of the tub and he immediately hooks both arms over it, whimpering as Zoro pushes into him with short forceful thrusts. They both know his body will stretch easily enough to accommodate the swordsman, even without lube, but being partially submersed makes it more challenging - everything feels far more rubbery than usual - and there's a lot of squirming and tugging and cursing involved.

"C'mon- fuck- nrrgh!" the older pirate growls in his ear, voice breathy with frustration, and the captain tries to laugh out loud, although the sound emerges sounding more like a moan, because he can picture his lover's annoyed expression perfectly.

The hands grasping his hips move to cup his ass cheeks instead, spreading them upwards and apart, and the irritated grumbling fades into a low groan when Zoro wriggles and pushes and finally sinks all the way into him, hands rising back up to encircle his waist.

"Don't move," the swordsman murmurs against Luffy's neck when he decides that, yes, his lungs are still working and, no, he isn't going to just suddenly stop breathing. Arms sliding forward to wrap loosely around the younger pirate's chest, he closes his eye and exhales a faint sigh against the warm skin where his cheek's resting. "Just- let me hold you for a second or two."

There's an odd note in his voice, one that makes the captain utter a wordless noise of inquiry, although Luffy relaxes and rests his chin on his arms where they're draped over the side, not clinging quite so firmly now that Zoro's gone still.

He's well aware that the swordsman doesn't display affection easily. The older pirate's always been passionate during sex, even if he's tended to be a bit quiet unless actively provoked into more vocal reactions, and he's never complained whenever Luffy's insisted on cuddling afterwards, but he's also never been the type to actively seek comfort.

Then again, in the past few hours the captain himself has done quite a few things that have surprised them both, so Zoro's sudden desire to act like butter melting on toast doesn't seem all that startling, even if it is unusual.

The older pirate thinks he could spend a long time like this, tucked around Luffy's back and spooning the other man securely against him, and he's vaguely disappointed that they're here in the bathhouse and not back in the men's quarters, because he really wants to try this while they're tucked onto the couch or into one of the box hammocks.

He's still extremely aware of the intimate connection between their lower bodies, because it's impossible to stand perfectly motionless when he's achingly stiff and buried so deeply that it's straining his already unhappy lower back to keep his hips tucked tightly against the curve of his captain's rear. Holding Luffy - actually snuggling against him like he's never really allowed himself to do before - feels wonderful, but holding him like this, locked together...

"Mmm, is Zoro falling asleep back there?" The smaller pirate murmurs against his crossed arms, a note of amusement creeping into his tone when the swordsman's arms tighten reflexively at the sound of his voice. "Or did he just forget I'm here?"

"Don't talk stupid when I'm hard as a rock and balls-deep in your ass," Zoro snorts, nuzzling the side of his neck and smirking when Luffy whimpers in response to his words, because he's fairly sure that he's found a way to retaliate against his captain's newfound delight in using his full name to fluster him. It'll probably earn him a few lumps from Nami and the ero-cook if he just starts spouting absolute filth at the dinner table, but it might be worth it to watch Luffy lose his normally unflappable confidence.

He shifts so he can seize his lover's earlobe between his teeth, hands dropping to stroke his hips and belly before traveling lower. "You bit me really hard while you were fucking me-"

His fingers encounter rigid flesh, curl tightly around it and give a sharp tug, and the younger pirate tenses in his grasp, gasping and rocking to his toe tips. His trembling body tightens on Zoro's cock, drawing a startled grunt from the swordsman.

"You- uhn~" he groans, moving both hands to clutch Luffy's hips so he can start moving his own, rocking slowly into his captain as his canine teeth pull insistently at his ear, barely restrained from drawing blood. "You bit me hard enough that- ahh~ Chopper said it might leave scars and-"

Luffy shudders, heart pounding so hard that he's momentarily afraid he'll accidentally activate Gear Second because he already knows what Zoro's going to say. "W-Wait, I want-"

"You liked it," the swordsman hisses, chin digging against his shoulder. "You liked- hah- our nakama looking at me and knowing-"

"Z-Zoro, wait! I wanna see-"

"-knowing that you bit me while y-you fucked me so hard that-"

"Wait, stop, not like this!" Luffy whines, because he wants - needs - to see the expression on Zoro's face. He clutches at the tub's edge, frantically craning his neck to look back over his shoulder and yanking his ear free in the process. "I want to watch Zoro's face when he comes!"

The older pirate struggles to comply, but his attempt to pull out fails when he automatically thrusts forward again, unwilling to withdraw from the tight flesh hugging his cock, and they both groan as his weight and momentum drives Luffy into the side hard enough to send water sloshing onto the floor.

Each subsequent stroke makes it even harder to stop, but he finally holds back long enough to let his captain scramble haphazardly over the side, skidding on the wet tiles. Zoro himself nearly slips and falls on his face when he climbs out, too focused on finishing what they've started to watch where he's putting his feet, and deceptively thin arms fly out to catch and pull him down to where the younger pirate's waiting impatiently.

There's no wild scuffling when he enters this time, just sweet slick friction that sends little spasms of pleasure rippling through his abdominal muscles as Luffy hooks both heels into the small of his back and forces him deeper, and he's having trouble remembering what he was going to say as he braces both hands against the floor on either side of his captain.

"Tell me!" Luffy demands, clutching at his forearms hard enough that his elbows nearly buckle and tightening the legs wrapped around his waist. "I won't let Zoro move until he tells me!"

"The crew saw us at dinner and-" Zoro gasps down at him, almost wanting to laugh because the younger pirate's somehow turned the tables on him yet again. "They all knew- they all knew you were f-fucking me like an animal when you bit me, and I- I liked it. I liked them knowing what you did to me."

He tries to look away, embarrassed by what he's admitting, and gentle fingers brush his cheek, turning his attention back to Luffy's face and this time he can't look away, hypnotized by his captain's wide shining eyes and the huge smile that's threatening to break into a grin any second now.

"I know I'm probably pretty fucked up in the head and not much to look at with the scars and everything, since Mihawk keeps kicking my ass, but if you really want me that bad, I'm yours," he rasps, and something clenches in his chest when joyous laughter explodes around him, loud enough to echo off the walls.

It's driven Zoro nearly out of his mind: two years of stalking the too-quiet hallways of a castle with only a crotchety master swordsman, a manic-depressive ghost girl and a bunch of angry monkeys to keep him company and wondering if he'll ever see that look of unabashed delight again, because he's never seen anyone capable of radiating such sheer goddamn happiness. It's no wonder people tend to stop and stare at Luffy when he's smiling, because he probably looks downright insane to anyone who doesn't know him, and sometimes even to those who do.

But the swordsman loves seeing that expression on his captain's face - and he's sure Usopp would say that it's because neither of them is quite right, like two peas in the same crazy-pod, or something like that - and after Marineford, after that newspaper with his captain's eerily somber and unnaturally flat gaze, he thought he might never see it again.

Boisterous laughter does interesting things during sex, and he's distracted by the rhythmic clenching of the muscle surrounding him where their bodies are still joined, so he doesn't realize that his remaining eye is slowly leaking moisture down the side of his face until Luffy notices and, startled into silence, cradles the older pirate's face between his palms, thumb stroking his damp cheek. "Zoro, what-"

When he struggles to sit up, concern overtaking his amusement, he unintentionally rocks into the swordsman's hips, and an astonished cry escapes Zoro's clenched teeth as his body reacts instantaneously, tensing and dropping him into orgasm so abruptly that he's not even entirely aware that he's coming until his fingers are clutching at the tiles beneath them.

It's far weaker than earlier, still strong enough to leave him out of breath, but nowhere near the peak that made him scream his captain's name to the rafters. He's left feeling confused and annoyed and fucking utterly embarrassed, color stealing into his face until it's positively conflagrant, as he and Luffy stare at each other in stunned silence.

"Uh," the younger pirate finally manages, at a complete loss for words for once in his life, and the swordsman might laugh if he didn't feel like punching a hole in the bathhouse wall. He eases away and drops onto the floor beside his puzzled lover, presenting his back.

"Ah, Zoro-?"

"Go away so I can figure out how I'm gonna kill myself."

"Zoro-"

"Or at least go grab Wado so I can-"

"Zoro!"

"OW! Don't smack my ass!"

"Then don't talk like an idiot!" Luffy retorts, grabbing the swordsman's arm with both hands so he can tug him over onto his back. He scowls when the older pirate immediately flops the opposite limb across his head in a blatant attempt to hide.

"I'm so fucking lame," Zoro mutters, his face still red where it's not covered by the crook of his elbow. "Crying for no reason and then losing my shit like a goddamn kid jerking off for the first time."

The captain settles cross-legged beside him, hugging the arm he's refused to relinquish before he lays it across his lap so he can study the way the muscles flex under the skin when he manipulates the joints. "Zoro's got a reason, even if he doesn't know it."

Or already knows it and doesn't want to admit it.

He ignores the other part, because the swordsman will just get more worked up if he talks about it, even if he explains that he doesn't mind. Besides, as long as he can redirect Zoro's attention and make him forget his foul mood, he'll probably be ready to go again in twenty-five or thirty minutes anyway. In the meantime, maybe he can convince him to tap into that odd affectionate mode again and they can cuddle while they wait.

This, he decides on the spot, is an excellent idea, and he wraps himself around Zoro's bicep, humming happily when the older pirate uncovers his face to see what he's doing.

"I'm going to need that arm back eventually."

"Nope, mine. Zoro said so." Luffy grins, leaning over to lick his cheek.

"Gah!" The swordsman sputters, although he's now trying not to smile as he pushes his captain's chin away, inciting frenetic giggling. "What the hell's this deal with trying to eat my face?"

He rolls over and pins the laughing younger pirate to the floor with a strategically-placed elbow, wiggling threatening fingers. "I'm not food!"

"Oh crap, no, not again, don't-" Luffy's protests dissolve into tumultuous wailing laughter. "St-Stop tickling meeeheeheehee-!"

Begging and threatening gets him nowhere, but Zoro eventually relents when he starts insisting that he's going to puke if he can't catch his breath, even though the swordsman's sure he's bluffing. Luffy may have spent their time apart learning to use Haki and improving his Gears, but he still can't lie for shit.

"Zoro's mean," he grumbles when he can finally talk again, panting as he lays spread-eagle on the tiles, and the older pirate snorts.

"Says the guy who's obsessed with leaving teeth marks in my hide."

Luffy twitches as Zoro leans over him, half-expecting the tickle torture to start again, but he relaxes when the swordsman's fingers trace the curve of his ear instead, tucking his hair behind it.

"You know, before you started fussing about not being able to see my face and distracted the hell out of me, I was thinking about telling you that - since you like biting so much - I'd return the favor and give this a piercing, make you wear one of my earrings."

His captain reaches up to catch his hand as it moves to pinch the earlobe in question, and while he was anticipating the disconcertion that's surfacing on Luffy's face - he's discussing doing something that goes a bit further than just plain rough sex, after all - the older pirate's a little amazed at the barely disguised excitement that immediately follows.

"Chopper would totally kill Zoro-" Luffy breathes, eyes turned up to watch the swordsman as he nuzzles his lips against the hand he's clutching. "-but I'd do it."

"You know we're both really screwed up, right?" Zoro laughs, shaking his head. "I mean, what the hell happened? We don't see each other for a couple years and we both turn into sex-crazed perverts?"

"I thought about Zoro- a lot," his captain murmurs, sucking two of the swordsman's fingers into his mouth and smirking when the older pirate's nostrils flare, his eye magnetically drawn to the lips pursed firmly around his knuckles.

"You say you can't talk dirty, but you really like hearing me do it, and you keep coming up with some really kinky shit." He inhales sharply when Luffy suddenly increases the suction on his fingers, because it's like they've magically developed some kind of tugging connection with his groin, and a shudder travels up his spine when a warm agile tongue slides forward between both digits to tease the sensitive crease where they join his hand. "Does anybody else on this ship have a clue that our Sencho's mind is a goddamn sewer?"

The younger pirate's mouth draws back, leaving his skin wet and tingling. "I don't care if other people think it's weird. I just wanna do what feels good."

He steals a glance at the swordsman's lap and grins. "Zoro's hard again."

"Yeah, and hopefully my frickin' cock cooperates this time," Zoro grumbles, reaching for him and breaking into a scowl when he's unexpectedly evaded. "C'mon, don't make me chase you around again or we'll be here all night, twiddling our thumbs and waiting for round whatever-the-fuck."

He grunts as his captain shoves him onto his back and crawls over him, straddling his waist. He's making that bossy face again, the one that allows no room for argument and warns everybody else to batten down the hatches if someone's actually brave enough to take him on.

"Oi-"

"Quit worrying about stuff that doesn't matter anymore," Luffy frowns down at him. He slides his hands up Zoro's chest, skimming over his scar and collarbone, and cups the swordsman's jaw between his palms as he leans forward to press their lips together briefly. "I want Zoro to feel good with me."

"You're one to talk-" the older pirate mutters against his mouth. "-trying to plow me through the furniture 'cause you're pissed about Mihawk."

"I'm not mad anymore. Besides, I've got this-" Fingers cosset the swordsman's injured shoulder. "-and Zoro told me he's mine, so I've got what I want. I just need to know what Zoro wants."

"Easy, Zoro wants to get laid without making an ass of himself again."

"No, that's not what I mean," Luffy scowls, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Zoro needs to tell me what I should do to make him stop looking like Sanji kicked his swords across the deck."

"I look like what-?"

Okay, maybe that's not the best analogy, because Zoro doesn't look sad when Sanji's involved. He usually looks pissed. But the Straw Hats don't have a puppy, so that doesn't work either, and anyway, he's not entirely sure that his swordsman would look sad if someone kicked one. He'd probably do the same thing as Luffy and just march off to go kick the kicker's ass.

He really sucks at this emotional comfort stuff.

"Luffy, what the hell are you trying to ask me?"

The younger pirate ruffles a hand through his messy hair in frustration, because he's not sure how to say it without making Zoro mad, but-

"Oi, Luffy, what-"

"Why'd Zoro start crying?" He asks and wants to take it back immediately, because sure enough, his swordsman's eyebrows are drawing together like looming thunderclouds.

"I told you already, I don't know. Today's just been really weird and-"

"That's crap!" Luffy blurts without thinking - because although today certainly has been weird, full of ups and downs and other insanity, he knows it's not the source of what's bothering his swordsman - and he scoots backwards in alarm as Zoro's mouth drops opens to angrily tell him off. What emerges, however, is a startled groan, and the captain belatedly realizes that he's pressing firmly against the older pirate's erection, which he's backed into in his attempt to escape.

"Look, I'll tell you later, okay? Just-"

"Now," the captain insists, squirming higher so he can reach behind him to grasp the cock nudging against his ass and hold it steady as he maneuvers into position. He's not above using his own body to get the answer he wants, not when it could help him figure out how to take away the pained note that keeps creeping into his lover's voice whenever he thinks Luffy's not paying attention. "I want to know now."

Hands reach up to settle on his hips, trying to push him down, and he cooperates briefly, allowing a scant inch or two of penetration before trapping Zoro's legs under his own, so the swordsman doesn't have the leverage to thrust deeper into him.

"Goddamn it-" And, because he doesn't really care how pitiful he sounds, as long as his captain stops hovering over him and starts moving already - preferably downward. "Please?"

"Tell me now, Roronoa."

"Nngh, sneaky bastard," Zoro gasps, because now Luffy's just plain cheating. "It's you, okay? I can't stop thinking about you nearly d-dying at Marineford."

Satisfied that he'll keep talking if he's already said this much, the younger pirate untangles their legs and eases himself down until he's sitting with his rump tucked tightly into the swordsman's lap, his breath coming hard and fast because the angle's better in this position and sending sparks skittering behind his eyelids with the slightest movement.

And he can look down at Zoro sprawled beneath him, making faint nonsensical gibbering sounds and clutching his hips painfully tight as he slides deeper into his captain's body. Face and torso darkly flushed, the older pirate's tilting his head back against the floor, trembling uncontrollably and so tense that Luffy can see tendons and cords of muscle standing out in his neck and arms.

His own cock is throbbing in sympathy, demanding attention, but he doesn't dare touch it, because knowing that he's responsible for making his swordsman look so overwhelmed has him incredibly close to the edge. He settles for stroking the taut abdomen his hands are pressed against, watching intently as the skin jumps under his fingertips. He's said he wants them to feel good together, and he means it, even if he's got the most wicked impulse to-

"L-Luffy, you-" Zoro's now looking up at him, voice tight and rough because there's barely any moisture in his mouth. He licks his lips clumsily and tries again. "Y-You're thinking about doing something messed up again, aren't you."

"Maybe," his captain agrees reluctantly, lacing his fingers together on the other man's stomach as he leans forward slightly, eyes half-lidded with pleasure. "Now tell me about Marineford."

"What's there to tell?" Zoro grunts, rolling his hips experimentally. It's more difficult to move with Luffy pressing down on him, but he quickly discovers that lifting the younger pirate slightly higher by grasping his buttocks gives him just enough room to thrust. He might not be able to keep it going for long, but if that fails, he figures just shifting him up and down on his cock like he's lifting a weight will work too. He could do curls all goddamn day, and Luffy weighs a lot less than his smallest barbell. "And why do you keep- uhn- insisting on talking during sex, anyway?"

His captain shudders, mouth dropping open as their bodies pick up a slow but steady rhythm. "I like listening to Zoro's voice, especially when-"

"When I tell you things like how good it feels to- mmph- bury my cock in your ass?" The swordsman punctuates his words with a vigorous twist of his hips and grins, panting, when it produces a low cry of surprise. "How t-tight and hot you are?"

"Stop-" Luffy gasps, "-trying to change the subject!"

"I'm not changing anything. Nngh! I'm fucking you."

"Marineford! Zoro was going to tell me about- UHNF~!" The younger pirate spasms violently when he's lifted slightly higher and then abruptly dropped, arching as the swordsman's cock slides against his prostate as it plunges back into his body. He fumbles for the hands cradling his bottom, trying to pry them loose before it's too late and he can't hold back anymore, but either he's too stupefied by the heat coiling in his belly or the older pirate's grip is too strong. "Ah, d-don't-"

Zoro immediately does it again, choking on his own laughter and sounding slightly overwrought; he doesn't have a clue who's in control anymore, and he's brimming with so many conflicting emotions that he's having difficulty breathing from that alone. His captain, who's given up on trying to tear his hands away and is now just desperately clutching his forearms, is clenching down on him so tightly that he's forced to put some actual muscle into lifting him.

He'll probably end up hyperventilating at this rate, trying to speak, but he doesn't care. "You- charged into the g-goddamn Marine headquarters- in the middle of a fucking war, nearly got yourself killed trying to- save your brother-"

The swordsman suddenly lunges forward, and Luffy yelps and throws both arms around his lover's neck, instinctively clamping his legs around his waist and clinging for dear life, because the older pirate's somehow surging to his feet without pulling out of him, hands seizing his captain's hips to prevent him from sliding loose.

It's five - possibly six - feet to the far side of the room, but Zoro's thoughts are so full of darkness and self-loathing, tears blurring the vision in his remaining eye, that he's already crossed it before he's aware of taking the first step.

"You nearly died with him, AND I WASN'T THERE!" He growls, slamming the younger pirate's back against the bathhouse door hard enough to make it rattle in its frame. Luffy gasps at the impact, writhing where he's pinned between the smooth planks and the cock impaling his body, but he's transfixed even more by the sight of his swordsman coming undone.

"You needed me and I wasn't there-"

"Zoro..."

The older pirate raises a hand to splay shaking fingers across his captain's scarred chest, his voice strained with anger and distress. "I want to kill that fucking Admiral."

"That won't-" Luffy swallows thickly, slightly overwhelmed by the murderous aura hovering over the other man like a second skin. He knows he's felt it before, on Sabaody, when Zoro used that scary but cool technique that gave him too many heads and arms wielding extra blades. He was excited at the time, pleased with his swordsman's ingenuity and also dying to find out if all those additional limbs were any good at other things, but then all hell broke loose and everything went downhill from there.

He doesn't like Asura very much anymore, even though he knows it'll probably be useful again in the future, because he can't help associating it with memories of his terrified crew, bruised and bleeding and fleeing for their lives.

"Zoro, killing him won't change anything, and it won't-" Sorrow lances through his chest, reminding the younger pirate that something fragile inside him is still mending, even if the damage Akainu left behind healed a long time ago. "It won't bring back Ace."

"I know, but I'll kill him anyway, if he shows his face again," the swordsman snarls, sliding his hand aside so he can rub his face against Luffy's chest, smearing tears across the starburst of rough, discolored skin. "If I'd been with you, like I should have, I could have done something."

Fingers weave through his hair, yank his head back so he's looking up into his captain's furious face. "Or maybe I just would've lost Zoro instead of Ace, or both Zoro AND Ace, and that-"

That might've ended everything right there, because Luffy thinks that while his brother's death certainly broke him, losing his swordsman would have crushed him. He still remembers that moment during the mad race through Impel Down, when he thought for one delirious shining moment that he'd actually found his lover when and where he'd least expected. He'd been honestly relieved to see their okama friend still alive, but Bon-chan's innocent joke had felt like a heavy slap in the face.

Zoro's absence had struck him like a massive hammer at that moment, making him acutely aware of some open, aching hole in his heart, but he'd forged on regardless, determined to survive and save Ace, because his crazy older brother would make sure that everything turned out okay in the end.

Instead, he'd failed and found himself alone, even surrounded by new allies and potential friends, and feeling like a hollow shell of his former self and empty in too many ways to count.

Tears streaming down his face for the first time since Jinbe beat some sense into him, because he hasn't allowed himself to cry since then, too focused on completing his training so he can protect the people he loves and then with hiding his personal worries and insecurities from his reunited crew, Luffy leans his forehead against the older pirate's. "I need Zoro. I can't-"

The swordsman's expression softens, his anger slipping away. "Luffy-"

His captain leans his head back, turning watery pleading eyes on him. "I hated being by myself, 'cause Zoro belongs with me, and I m-m-missed-"

Zoro shifts his weight, propping the younger pirate more firmly between himself and the door so he's got both hands free to stroke soothing fingers over his face, wiping tears from his cheeks, and Luffy moans softly and turns his head to nuzzle into the swordsman's palm.

"Make me forget what it feels like-" he begs, legs tightening over the older pirate's hips as he nudges both heels against his lower back. "I don't want to think about it anymore."

"I missed you too," Zoro murmurs, brushing a thumb across his captain's lower lip before he reaches down to brace his hands under Luffy's rear, lifting him a little higher so he can start rocking against him with gentle deliberation. "I missed you so much it drove me kind of crazy."

His erection's wilted slightly, his ardor greatly reduced although not actually killed by their somber conversation, but he hardens quickly enough when the younger pirate pulls his face closer to kiss him. Hands flutter over his skin as though they're making sure he's not going to suddenly vanish into smoke, caressing his face and torso, fingers tracing the scar dividing his chest and lingering over the fresher marks on his shoulder.

He ignores the impulse urging him to just starting pounding into the taut heat enveloping him, because even though he knows it won't incite any complaints, it's not how he wants to reassure his captain that he's here, very much alive, and that he doesn't plan on going anywhere without him.

Luffy draws back gasping, his cock stirring between them as Zoro's hands readjust their grasp on his bottom to find a better angle, one that makes them groan in unison as the younger pirate squirms fitfully with each slow penetrating thrust. "Uhnf- Zoro~"

"It feels really good being inside you-" the swordsman pants, chuckling weakly when a tremor shakes his captain's body. "-but it's not just about screwing each other."

Dazed half-closed eyes struggle to focus on his face. "Mmm?"

"I love this, whether I'm taking you like this or you're- uhn~ f-fucking me out of my mind, like earlier, but- oh god, stop, stop, can't think straight when you-" Zoro chokes as Luffy writhes in his arms, tensed muscles squeezing and massaging his cock with merciless intensity.

"Sorry," his captain offers feebly. "I can't help it, it just sorta happens."

"S-sex is great, but I want to do more than just fuck," the swordsman explains when he can breathe again, ducking his head to lick a wet path along the younger pirate's collarbone and to rub the scarred side of his face against his neck as he pauses thrusting long enough to say what's on his mind before he chickens out. "I want to sleep in the same bed, even if it's one of those goddamn hammocks, and wake up together."

Luffy regards him with slightly widened eyes, still trembling all over, even though his lover's stopped moving. "Z-Zoro-"

"I want to play tag with you without you and Usopp tricking me into it, I want to help you steal food from the shitty eyebrow cook's kitchen and kiss you goodnight even if those assholes laugh at me." He's had two years to think about this, to regret all the things he'd ever been tempted to do and didn't because tomorrow was always another day, until Kuma and the horrible newspaper article that made it painfully aware that sometimes, for certain people, tomorrow never comes.

"I want you to help me keep training so I can get stronger for you." And he says it easily, without guilt, because defeating Mihawk and becoming the world's greatest swordsman isn't really his ultimate goal anymore, just one more step on the current path and a means to a very different end, and he and Luffy both know it.

Zoro's had two years to come to terms with that as well, and wherever Kuina exists these days, he imagines her smirking and congratulating him for wising up enough to lay his swords at the feet of someone who's actually warm and breathing, rather than merely risking his neck for a childish promise made to a long-dead friend. He can carry Wado in her honor and wield it in his Sencho's name, and he's found a measure of peace in this.

The captain whimpers as the older pirate starts rocking his hips again, pulling almost completely free before he eases his cock into Luffy inch by slow inch, rubbing heavily over the spot that makes him curl his toes and squeeze his eyes shut, voice growing in volume.

"And whatever crazy shit we find in the- mmph- New World, I'm going to be right there- ahh~ at your side, all the way to Raftel. And if One Piece isn't there- I guess we'll just have to keep looking."

"Zoro~ I-I'm-"

"Don't, don't try to stop it, I want to hear you. Look at me, Luffy," the swordsman coaxes softly, and the younger pirate obediently lowers the hand he's just forced over his mouth, whimpering helplessly as he grapples for a firm grip on the sturdy arms supporting him.

"Z- nngh!" He's tottering on the precipice and ready to tumble into it with the next thrust, possibly even the next word, if it's the right one.

"It's okay, I'm here, and I'll stay right here, for the rest of my life, forever, if that's what you wa-"

Luffy arches in his grasp, keening, and Zoro watches, mesmerized by the way the desperation and longing in his captain's face disintegrates into reprieve and release even before the swordsman rolls his hips again, driving himself deep and gasping as he's crushed by the slick flesh that spasms around him.

Warm fluid erupts between them, most of it spraying across the older pirate's chest in short hard bursts, although the first pulse flies nearly high enough to catch him in the face. Luffy, harsh panting breaking up the relieved laughter now escaping him, can't stop staring because this is even better than earlier, even if he's done it by accident, and his body clenches just in time to tighten around the next incoming thrust.

"Aah~ aah, shit, I'm co-"

The younger pirate laces his fingers behind Zoro's head and hauls him closer, smothering the warning cry with his mouth as the swordsman shoves him harder against the door, pushing up into him with short and controlled but forceful strokes as his body spills into his captain's so violently that he can feel his heart pounding in his cock, which feels really strange but also kind of good.

He wants to keep moving even after he's finished, trying to ignore the tenderness that's warning him he's too over-sensitized to continue, but his body has other ideas, abruptly announcing that it's time to sit down when his knees promptly buckle under Luffy's weight. Fortunately, leaning heavily against the door means sliding to the ground with his captain still clinging around him, instead of dropping like a rock.

"Zoro looks good with my come all over him," the younger pirate muses breathlessly, running a finger through the mess on his swordsman's chest.

"Why is it-" Zoro pants, slumping against the doorframe and giving a muffled hiss as his deflating cock slips free. "-that you can say something like that, but you can't ask me to blow you? And stop trying to doodle pictures on me with your jizz. It's fucking gross."

After spending a few minutes waiting for his racing heart to calm and his lungs to re-oxygenate his spinning head, he drags himself and Luffy across the tiles to the bank of faucets on the wall. He's pleased to discover that the detachable shower head's just low enough for him to reach up and pull loose without getting up, because he's not sure his legs will support him yet.

The captain sighs happily as the older pirate spins him around and snags a nearby bar of soap, scrubbing vigorously until he's positively fluffy with suds. Sprawling on his back in the swordsman's lap, he ignores the repeated complaints that he's making himself harder to bathe, squinting as he's hosed down thoroughly with warm water, washing away tears and sweat and other grime.

"I swear, you're a magnet for dirt," Zoro mutters quietly, running fingers through the younger man's wet hair to comb out the ever-present tangles. Laying the shower head aside, he stares down at Luffy's closed eyes, hesitating before he brushes gentle knuckles against his cheek, voice dropping so low that the captain can barely make out his next words.

He's almost finished lathering himself when the grinning rubber man finally bolts upright and latches onto him, nearly taking an elbow to the face because the older pirate's lifting it to scrub under his arm.

"Oi, watch it, one of us missing an eye is enough."

"Mmm, what was that last part Zoro said?" Luffy asks, wrapping arms firmly around his torso. "After the thing about magma."

"Magnets. You heard me. C'mon, sit up so I can rinse this crap off me."

"Nah, don't think I did," the captain frowns, although he scoots further down Zoro's body to give him a bit more room, resting his chin on the swordsman's stomach and then flailing and sputtering when the jetting shower head's purposely redirected in his face. "GAH!"

"I said, I love you, idiot. Quit pretending that your ears don't work."

"..."

"Uh, sorry- what was that again? I forgot already, so Zoro needs to remind me."

"Luffy, don't be a-"

"Roronoa~"

"Mmph. Fine. I love you." A pause, followed by an exasperated sigh. "Even if you're a manipulative little shithead."


	5. Chapter 5

Zoro's instantly awake when he realizes there's someone leaning over him, lashing out even before he bothers opening his eye, and when he blocks and counters the intruder's outstretched hand, a familiar voice utters a high-pitched shriek of dismay. It's followed by a clatter as the shower head spins across the floor, spraying water in all directions.

"Ow! Damn it, you jerk, that hurt!"

He ignores the bare toes jabbing him in the ribs because she doesn't kick near as hard as she punches. "Nami, what are you doing in here?"

"Turning off the water that you guys left running," the dripping navigator grumbles, flexing her wrist to see if it's actually broken or just sprained. She glares down at him, pulling her damp towel tighter around her as she stretches past him to twist off the faucets. "Jeez, I forget you're dangerous even when you're sleeping."

The swordsman yawns widely, blinking up at her from where he's slouched against the wall between the stack of shower benches and the shower knobs, their still-sleeping captain curled between his legs with his head pillowed on the older pirate's stomach and one hand draped across his own chest.

Zoro's hand - the one that didn't whack her hard enough to leave her whole arm tingling - rests over it, and Nami's mouth twitches when she notices that their fingers are laced together. If it were anyone else, she probably wouldn't give it a second thought, but the swordsman's always been the type more apt to break hands than hold them, so it's funny and bizarre at the same time.

Although, she's forced to admit as she ruefully wiggles her numb fingers, it's also kind of cute.

"What the hell do you want?" He demands irritably, but - to her surprise and continued amusement - he tightens his fingers around Luffy's instead of pushing the captain's hand away, even though his face is blazing so brilliantly that even his ears are turning pink.

"A few billion beli would be nice," she smirks. "But I know you don't have any, so I'll settle for having the bathhouse to myself for a while."

"Fine, fine. Just give me a second or two to get our illustrious captain here back on his feet."

They both glance down at Luffy just as he stirs briefly to scratch his balls before he resumes drooling on the swordsman's stomach, muttering sleepily for the dream dinosaur he's chasing to stop running away so he can catch and eat it.

Zoro snorts, Nami tries to scowl at him and fails, and then they're both snickering like little kids.

"Why do you- no, never mind, I don't want to know."

"Heh."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Usopp says that if you agreed to cover his next watch, he won't-" The navigator starts giggling again and has to take a few deep breaths before she continues; it's an ungodly hour of the morning and she's exhausted and slightly batty after hours of squinting at spidery lines on the old maps she's been re-inking. "He won't tell Sogeking that you stabbed him in the hand with a fork."

"Well, shit, I better tell him yes then, cause I don't want that crazy bastard chasing me down to kick my ass," Zoro mutters sarcastically, prompting another fit of giggles from the woman standing over him. He gives Luffy's shoulder a gentle shake. "Sencho?"

"Nrrrmph~" the younger pirate mumbles, face burrowing against his stomach.

"You gotta wake up-"

"Wanna sleeeeep. Zoro's comfy and I'm tired."

"I know, I am too." The swordsman shoots a cautious glance in their nakama's direction, but she's turned away and busied herself with readjusting the thermostat he turned down earlier. "C'mon, Luffy, you can go back to sleep in your bunk."

"No~" Luffy whines, "I wanna sleep with Zoro."

"Okay, okay, I know, I promised. But that means you need to come with me, cause Nami wants us out."

He struggles to his feet, wincing and eyeing the tub regretfully - the floor didn't seem quite so hard earlier, when he was dozing off - but the navigator is making shooing motions towards the door.

"Don't forget to tell Franky it's his watch when you get to the men's quarters, if you don't see him on the way, and make sure-"

"Yeah, yeah, make sure he's got fresh bottles, I know," Zoro groans, leaning down to peel their captain off the tiles, because he's still refusing to stand up. "Oi, Luffy, what's wrong with your legs?"

"They're asleep, like the rest of me should be," the rubber man mutters sulkily. "Carry me."

Grumbling quietly, the swordsman scoops the younger pirate into his arms, glowering at Nami when she hides the huge smile on her face with twitching fingers, looking remarkably like Robin, and god help him if the historian's really rubbing off on her that much, because one opportunistic voyeur in the crew is enough, thank you.

He stalks towards the doorway with Luffy cradled in his arms, feeling her eyes follow and convinced that she's staring at his bare ass again.

"Zoro-?"

"What?" He growls, bristling as he spins on his heel to glare at the navigator. "If you've got something to say, just say it already so I can go get some sleep - I'm tired and my back is killing me, not to mention my ass, because our captain here thinks he's a goddamn porn star and- NOW WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?"

Nami, giggling so hard that she's forced to yank a bench off the pile so she can sit down before she falls over laughing, covers her face with both hands. "I was going to tell you, welcome home."

"Oh.."

"..."

"Uh... sorry."

The navigator wipes tears from her eyes, a stray snigger escaping her at the nonplussed swordsman's face. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, judging from the noises I could hear downstairs, you were giving as good as you got. You're just lucky I've got a steady hand or you'd also owe me for a new ream of parchment."

He grimaces - the woman really is a shrewd if rather underhanded entrepreneur - and then the bottom suddenly drops out of his stomach, leaving him alarmed and slightly nauseous.

"Fuck! Did you hear what-"

"-you were talking about? A little." Her smile dies, replaced with concern. "Enough."

Zoro's jaw clenches, and he looks down at Luffy, who's dozed off against his chest despite their noise, the fingers of one hand clinging stubbornly to the swordsman's scar where it spans over his heart. He only glances up when Nami joins him, her expression troubled as she reaches out to tuck their sleeping captain's hair behind his ear.

"Thriller Bark- you still haven't told him?" The navigator asks softly, and the older man's face darkens so abruptly at her words that she nearly takes a step backwards, aware that she's likely overstepped her bounds.

He doesn't demand to hear why she knows or who told her, just fixes her with one baleful eye, his heart thundering in his chest because if she's aware of the sacrifice he made, she's not the only one, not with this crew where secrets and personal agendas don't stay hidden for long. And Luffy's not ready, not after the deeply repressed vulnerability that he's just shown.

The swordsman's voice holds the threat of violence, but it's deceptively soft because he doesn't dare wake the smaller pirate curled in his arms. "Don't you dare say anything to-"

"I won't," she promises, offering him a sad smile as she pulls the door open and stands aside to let him pass. "That's between you and him, and it's no one else's business."

"Thanks," Zoro mutters gruffly as he shifts Luffy to his shoulder, where the younger pirate rouses enough to wrap both arms around his neck, registering a faint murmur of protest at being disturbed. The swordsman runs a gentle hand down his back, nosing against the captain's ear to whisper reassuringly to him, and Nami feels her throat tighten as Luffy's face breaks into a sleepy but sunny smile, because she knows they're both going to be alright.

"Zoro-?" She asks again quietly, touching his arm before he can duck through the doorway, because she feels there's one last thing that needs saying. "I know you guys are used to relying on each other when things get rough, but-"

He's exhausted, wants very badly to get back to the men's quarters so he can climb into bed and curl himself around his captain's body and sleep undisturbed for a week or two, but he doesn't push her away.

"Yeah?"

"You've got nakama, family, on this ship. Don't forget we're here for you when you need us."


End file.
